Yates v. Chicago Nat. League Ball Club, Inc.

• Decision Date: 06 April 1992
• Docket Number: No. 1-90-1209,1-90-1209
• Citation: 595 N.E.2d 570,172 Ill.Dec. 209,230 Ill.App.3d 472
• Parties: , 172 Ill.Dec. 209 Delbert YATES, Jr., a minor, by Delbert Yates, Sr., his father and next friend, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHICAGO NATIONAL LEAGUE BALL CLUB, INC., a foreign corporation, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 570

595 N.E.2d 570

230 Ill.App.3d 472, 172 Ill.Dec. 209

Delbert YATES, Jr., a minor, by Delbert Yates, Sr., his father and next friend, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHICAGO NATIONAL LEAGUE BALL CLUB, INC., a foreign corporation, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-90-1209.

Appellate Court of Illinois,

First District, First Division.

April 6, 1992.

Rehearing Denied June 23, 1992.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing June 29, 1992.

Tressler, Soderstrom, Maloney & Priess, of Chicago (Francis A. Spina and William J. Cremer, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Thomas R. Cirignani & Associates, Chicago (Thomas R. Cirignani, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

MODIFIED ON DENIAL OF REHEARING

Justice CAMPBELL delivered the opinion of the court:

Minor-plaintiff Delbert Yates, Jr., by Delbert Yates, Sr., his father and next friend ("Mr. Yates"), brought suit in the circuit court of Cook County against defendant Chicago National League Ball Club, Inc. (the "Chicago Cubs" or "Cubs") for injuries resulting from being struck by a foul ball while attending a baseball game. Plaintiff alleged that defendant negligently: (1) failed to provide adequate screening in the area behind home plate; and (2) failed to warn him so as to enable him to avoid the harm. Following a jury trial, judgment was entered on a verdict rendered in favor of plaintiff; defendant now appeals.

The record on appeal contains the following facts. Mr. Yates testified that on August 20, 1983, he attended a baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs. Mr. Yates' wife, four of their daughters and plaintiff Delbert Yates, Jr. also attended the game. Mr. Yates had previously purchased eight tickets for the game through Carson, Pirie Scott in Merrillville, Indiana. Mr. Yates testified that he had requested tickets behind home plate.

The Yates family arrived at the ballpark between 12:30 and 1 p.m. and had difficulty finding a place to park their car. By the time they were admitted to the park, the game had already started; an usher showed the family to their seats. Mr. Yates testified that he took the first seat, whereas plaintiff took the seventh seat, leaving the eighth seat empty. Mr. Yates felt that his seat was protected by a screen in place behind home plate.

During the game, Leon Durham came up to bat and hit a foul ball which struck plaintiff. Mr. Yates testified that he saw the ball hit his son, after which he saw a knot under plaintiff's eye and saw blood pouring down plaintiff's face. According to Mr. Yates, two people came and took plaintiff to a first aid station. Plaintiff was then taken to the hospital. Plaintiff's injury required surgery and a hospital stay of at least five days.

Mr. Yates testified that in the 90 days following the surgery, plaintiff continued to have excruciating headaches. In addition, whereas plaintiff had played basketball and organized baseball prior to being injured, he could no longer really hit or catch the ball. Plaintiff had become withdrawn and stayed in his room most of the time.

On cross-examination, Mr. Yates testified that he had been to Wrigley Field two or three times before the date of the accident. Mr. Yates was aware that balls would leave the field and go into the stands. Mr. Yates had previously sat in a seat not protected by a screen. Although the diagram he was shown at the time of purchasing tickets did not indicate the position of the screen, Mr. Yates assumed that the seats he was shown behind home plate would be behind the screen. Defense counsel sought to impeach Mr. Yates with prior deposition testimony in which Mr. Yates stated he asked for tickets "behind the home plate around the screen." Defense counsel also sought to impeach Mr. Yates with prior deposition testimony in which Mr. Yates stated he did not actually see the ball strike his son. Mr. Yates admitted that he had not sat in plaintiff's seat. On redirect, Mr. Yates testified that he was never told by the Chicago Cubs that his seats were not protected by the screen.

Mrs. Theda Yates, plaintiff's mother, testified that she did not see the baseball strike her son, but that, immediately thereafter, her son appeared as described above. Mrs. Yates' testimony concerning plaintiff's hospitalization and the change in plaintiff's activities was also similar to that described by Mr. Yates. Mrs. Yates also stated that plaintiff suffered from occasional double vision following the injury.

On cross-examination, Mrs. Yates testified that Mr. Yates requested seats behind home plate and behind the screen. Defense counsel read Mrs. Yates' prior deposition testimony into the record, in which she indicated that Mr. Yates had asked for seats behind the screen "where we always sat but they were always [sic] sold." Mrs. Yates testified that she was aware that foul balls went into the stands at baseball games, which was why they bought the seats at issue. Mrs. Yates stated that she had not gone to plaintiff's seat to see whether the seat was protected.

Mrs. Yates was then shown Defendant's Exhibits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, a series of photographs taken at Wrigley Field from a number of perspectives. Mrs. Yates agreed that whether the seats Mr. Yates bought appeared to be protected by the screen depended on the angle from which they were photographed. These exhibits were published to the jury.

On redirect, Mrs. Yates testified that the Cubs never told her that the seats her family was going to sit in were protected by the screen from some angles and not from others. Mrs. Yates also stated that she would not have sat in her seat if she had known they were not protected from foul balls.

Plaintiff testified that he was born on December 27, 1972. In 1983, plaintiff was in fourth grade at the Hazelnut Elementary School. Plaintiff attended the August 20, 1983, baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs, along with his parents and sisters. Immediately after plaintiff bet his sister Susan as to whether Leon Durham would get a hit, he was struck by a baseball. Plaintiff saw only a white blur before he was struck. Plaintiff then testified that he was taken to a first aid station, then to a hospital and later had surgery.

Plaintiff also testified that in the 90 days following the surgery, he had painful headaches almost every day and that he continued to have similar headaches once or twice a month thereafter. Plaintiff further testified as to his involvement with sports, particularly baseball. In the two or three years before the accident, plaintiff had played organized baseball as an outfielder, second baseperson and catcher. Plaintiff had one of the top five averages on his team. After the accident, plaintiff would see two baseballs when attempting to field a fly ball. Plaintiff did not play any other sports after the accident. Plaintiff also has trouble driving cars and climbing ladders.

On cross-examination, plaintiff stated that he had been to Wrigley Field approximately five times before the accident. He had also been to Comiskey Park on at least one occasion. Plaintiff admitted that he was aware that foul balls would leave the field. Plaintiff also admitted that from his experience as a baseball player, he knew that the ball could travel in many different directions after being hit. Plaintiff could not remember whether the ballpark was crowded on August 20, 1983.

Plaintiff next read edited deposition testimony given by Allen R. Caskey into the record. Defendant's motion to strike the entire transcript was heard and denied outside the presence of the jury.

Caskey testified that he had obtained a bachelor's degree in 1964, a master's degree in 1965 and a doctorate in 1974; these degrees were in the field of recreation and parks administration and were received from the University of Illinois. He was president of A.R.C. Associates, Inc., a firm providing planning, design, construction, supervision and inspection, as well as operation, maintenance and safety consulting services, to park and recreation agencies. The facilities involved include swimming pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, playgrounds and softball and baseball facilities. Caskey had previously been involved with the planning, design and development of approximately 300 softball and baseball fields, ranging in size from a small backstop to a facility seating a few thousand spectators. Caskey had also previously consulted for the Chicago White Sox in a similar lawsuit.

Caskey testified that he had been retained by plaintiff to review documents regarding this lawsuit. After reviewing these documents, Caskey arrived at a number of opinions, based upon a reasonable degree of certainty within the area of design, construction and operation of a baseball stadium. Caskey opined that the seats in the "area behind home plate" should be protected at Wrigley Field. Caskey defined the "area behind home plate" as the area between the first and third base lines as if those baselines were extended into the stands. Caskey opined that this area was the most dangerous area of the ballpark because it has the highest probability of line drive foul balls which would have a short reaction time on the part of spectators.

Caskey testified that it would be feasible to protect spectators from foul balls by erecting a screen to prevent foul balls from entering the stands. Caskey also opined that plaintiff's seat on August 20, 1983, was in the area behind home plate, but was also in an unprotected area of the ballpark. ¹ Caskey opined that screening could be extended down the first and third baselines, but a minimal amount of screening would be that which would cover the area behind home plate. Caskey concluded that plaintiff's injuries were caused by the lack of protective screening and that defendant had not exercised reasonable care in providing safe seating in the area behind home plate.

On cross-examination, Caskey admitted that his undergraduate degree was in physical...