'Baseball Rule' May Protect Minors

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - What's the baseball rule in the law? Here's a hint: it's not that the game is going to take at least 3 hours and involve too much overpriced beer.

A line-drive foul ball hit by Melky Cabrera at Turner Field during a Braves-Mets game in August of 2010 went into the stands and smashed into the forehead of a 6-year-old girl, fracturing her skull in 30 places. And you thought rugby was a brutal game? The girl's parents sued the Braves, but the Braves filed papers to get the court to toss the case based on what is known as the 'baseball rule'.

Under that rule, adopted by many state courts, it's up to the team to provide enough seats behind home plate to shield all the fans who would want to be protected. If spectators don't choose to sit in the seats protected by netting, the law will presume that they understood the risks, chose to sit there despite the known risk, and can't then sue if they get hit by an errant ball.

But, in the Braves case, the appeals court has chosen not to toss the case because, among other legal questions, the court will consider it fair to apply the rule to a minor child who really didn't get a say in where she sat. The case will now continue to trial and the outcome remains to be seen.

The rule for those of us who like our three hours at the field is not to drink so much of that overpriced beer that we can't catch fly balls coming toward the heads of our kids.