It's unfortunate that any family should have to go through what this family is suffering, but that doesn't mean they should have the opportunity to make everyone else pay for their misfortune. Anytime someone, youth or adult, steps onto a sports field, they risk injury or in extreme cases, death. Minor to moderate injuries are common in most sports, including baseball. Most people understand that there is an assumed risk and choose to play anyway. Sometimes, bad injuries happen. It's part of competition and always will be. This family is taking advantage of the fact their son was injured by a ball that was hit by a metal bat and they're blaming everyone becuase 'metal bats hit the ball too hard.' It could just as easily have happened with a wood bat. As a case in point I'll tell you about the son of a web friend of mine....
Two summers ago, Erik Davis, who is a senior pitcher for Stanford University, was struck in the eye by a batted ball while pitching in the Cape Cod League. For those who aren't serious baseball fans, the Cape Cod League is the premier college wood bat summer league, attracting the nation's top collegiate players, many who end up going on to play pro baseball when they leave college. Erik's mom and dad were listening to the game online, from their home near Stanford. His dad told me that when they heard the announcer say that he'd been struck by a batted ball, they were worried, until they announcer said he was down and not moving and that paramedics had been summoned. Then, they were really concerned for his well being. When life flight was called in to fly their son to Boston, they were completely horrifed, hoping their son wasn't going to die before he could get to the hospital. Erik had to undergo several surgeries to repair his eye socket, the eye itself was ok though he did have some vision difficulties for a while, and he can't go through a metal detector anymore without setting it off as his socket is now made of titanium, not bone. He was back on the mound again eight weeks later, pitching in Reno. His mom and dad didn't sue the world, they knew it was an assumed risk for his to play the game he so loves, and he was taking his chances. The nice ending is that Erik's had an incedible year at Stanford this season and will likely be taken high in the Major League draft in June.
Amazing how different families handle similar situations, isn't it?
