Taylor v. Baseball Club of Seattle, L.P.

130 P.3d 835, 132 Wash. App. 32
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided February 27, 2006·No. No. 55803-0-I·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

Dwyer, J.

¶1 During warm-up before a Seattle Mariners game, a pitcher accidentally threw a ball past his teammate into the stands, injuring Delinda Middleton Taylor. The trial court properly dismissed Taylor’s negligence claim against the Mariners under the doctrine of implied primary assumption of risk. The court also properly admitted expert testimony from the Mariners’ pitching coach. We affirm.

FACTS

¶2 On July 23, 2000, Delinda Middleton (now Delinda Middleton Taylor) went to a Mariners game at Safeco Field with her then-boyfriend, Glen Taylor, and her minor sons, Gavin and Jordan. Their seats were in section 114, along [35] the right field foul line and four rows up from the field. They arrived more than an hour before the game began to see the players warm up and to get their autographs. As they walked to their seats, Taylor saw that players were practicing nearby. Mariners pitcher Freddy Garcia was standing in front of section 114 on or about the right field line facing center field. He was throwing a ball back and forth with Jose Mesa, who stood in right center field approximately 120 feet away. As Taylor stood in front of her seat, she looked away from the field and a ball thrown by Mesa got past Garcia and struck Taylor in the face, causing serious injuries.

¶3 Taylor sued the Seattle Mariners, Jose Mesa, Mirla Mesa, and Freddy Garcia, asserting that they were liable for the allegedly negligent warm-up throw.1

¶4 The Mariners moved for summary judgment, claiming that (1) their duty to protect spectators from balls entering the stands was satisfied by providing a protective screen behind home plate and (2) Taylor was familiar with baseball and the inherent risk of balls entering the stands and therefore assumed the risk of her injury.

¶5 With respect to their assumption of risk defense, the Mariners relied on the following facts. Taylor was a Mariners fan; she had gone to one game at the Kingdome; and she watched their games on television. Taylor knew professional ballplayers do not always catch the ball and that the ball could leave the field during a game. Also, Taylor’s son Gavin played baseball for approximately six years and her son Jordan played for seven years. She went to almost all of their games, during which she saw balls enter the stands.

¶6 The Mariners’ pitching coach Bryan Price testified that the pitchers warm up by playing “long toss,” during which they throw the ball back and forth at increasing distances, with one standing on or near a foul line and the other in center field. Price stated that this method is [36] followed to avoid other players who are warming up, including the visiting team, and minimize the possibility that a player could be hit by an errant throw. Price further claimed that this warm-up procedure, though unwritten, is customary to the sport and followed at every baseball level, from little league to the major leagues.

¶7 Taylor argued that summary judgment for the Mariners should not be granted because she was not aware that her circumstances posed any risk of injury. She claimed she did not know how players warmed up and never thought about the possibility of a ball entering the stands and hurting someone during a warm-up. Taylor further argued that the Mariners’ warm-up method was negligent, contending that they should have a formal policy prohibiting pitchers from practicing near the stands.

¶8 The trial court granted the Mariners’ motion and dismissed Taylor’s claims. Taylor appeals.

DISCUSSION

¶9 Taylor contends that the trial court erred in dismissing her claims against the Mariners on summary judgment. Specifically, she argues that there are issues of material fact regarding whether the Mariners’ warm-up method was negligent and whether she assumed the risk of being injured by an errant throw.

I. Standard of Review

¶10 In reviewing an order granting summary judgment, an appellate court engages in the same inquiry as the trial court. Degel v. Majestic Mobile Manor, Inc., 129 Wn.2d 43, 48, 914 P.2d 728 (1996); Mountain Park Homeowners Ass’n v. Tydings, 125 Wn.2d 337, 341, 883 P.2d 1383 (1994). Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with any affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c); Nivens v. [37] 7-11 Hoagy’s Corner, 133 Wn.2d 192, 197-98, 943 P.2d 286 (1997). The court must make all inferences and resolve all ambiguities in favor of the nonmoving party. Degel, 129 Wn.2d at 48. The motion should be granted only if, from all the evidence, a reasonable person could reach but one conclusion. Lamon v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 91 Wn.2d 345, 350, 588 P.2d 1346 (1979).

II. Implied Primary Assumption of Risk

¶11 Throughout the United States, for many decades, courts have required baseball stadiums to screen some seats — generally those behind home plate — to provide protection to spectators who choose it. See, e.g., Edling v. Kan. City Baseball & Exhibition Co., 181 Mo. App. 327, 168 S.W. 908 (1914); see also Crane v. Kan. City Baseball & Exhibition Co., 168 Mo. App. 301, 304, 153 S.W. 1076 (1913). In Washington, the law has long been that baseball stadiums have a duty to screen some seats and, as a corollary, a spectator who takes a seat in the unscreened portion of a stadium assumes the risk of being struck by a baseball. See Leek v. Tacoma Baseball Club, Inc., 38 Wn.2d 362, 229 P.2d 329 (1951).

¶12 A sport spectator’s assumption of risk and a defendant sports team’s duty of care are accordingly discerned under the doctrine of primary assumption of risk. The doctrine serves as a complete bar to recovery when an injury results from a risk inherent in the activity in which the plaintiff was engaged: “Implied primary assumption of risk arises where a plaintiff has impliedly consented (often in advance of any negligence by defendant) to relieve defendant of a duty to plaintiff regarding specific known and appreciated risks.” Scott v. Pac. W. Mountain Resort, 119 Wn.2d 484, 497, 834 P.2d 6 (1992). The court in Scott further explained:

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Taylor v. Baseball Club of Seattle, L.P., 130 P.3d 835, 132 Wash. App. 32 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

130 P.3d 835 (Taylor v. Baseball Club of Seattle, L.P.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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