The family of Jake Schutter is suing Easton, the sporting goods company, for injuries Jake suffered during a youth baseball game last May.
Schutter, 11, is now deaf in his left ear after an opposing player hit a ball with a metal Easton bat straight into the side of Schutter's head. Schutter collapsed and started vomiting and is now permanently deaf in his left ear.
His family is suing Easton on the grounds that the "wildly popular metal bats are designed to send balls off the bat at such great velocity, young players don't have a chance to react."
This was a truly freak accident, but it may be difficult to prevent. The truth is that if a ball is hit hard enough with any type of bat it can hurt you. Even just moderately-hard flying objects can cause serious damage if they hit a person in the right spot. Schutter's situation is unfortunate, but it is a freak accident.
With that said, the family is probably looking at a pretty big check once this is settled in court.
Antonio M. Romanucci, the Schutters' lawyer said, "They advertise these bats as hitting balls through cement walls. They have tremendous exit speed."
