Steve Badillo of Hollywood said he was setting down his beer when a baseball thrown by the Marlins' Juan Pierre nailed him in the nose during last year's World Series. Now he's suing.
But during Game 4 of last year's showdown between the Marlins and the Yankees, a 44-year-old Hollywood man said he caught a baseball in the nose, courtesy of Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre.
Pierre, fleet of foot but not exactly cannon-armed, allegedly aimed the toss Steve Badillo's way after exchanging some warm-up tosses with teammate Jeff Conine between the third and fourth innings.
That's when the national pastime -- baseball -- intersected with the South Florida pastime: lawsuits.
Badillo, a Yankees fan originally from New York, is suing the Marlins and Pierre for unspecified damages, seeking compensation for what he fears is permanent vision damage. He says Pierre's ball nailed him in the nose and right eye, leaving him dazed and bloodied.
Pierre could not be reached for comment. A Marlins spokesman declined to speak about the case.
`WENT DOWN'
Badillo said he was setting down his beer and didn't have a chance to react when the baseball struck him. He was sitting in seat 15 of the eighth row of right center field.
''It sounded like a base hit against my skull,'' Badillo said. He said he ''went down'' in pain and that paramedics took him to the emergency room at Parkway Medical Center, where he spent the night.
Like virtually every other outfielder in the majors, Pierre lobs baseballs to fans as souvenirs, as if handing a tip to a bellhop.
Since the strike of 1994-95 canceled the World Series and alienated millions of fans, soft-tossing baseballs into the crowd has become second nature. Players know it can keep the hecklers at bay.
Pierre is an unlikely target for such a lawsuit. He is widely viewed as having one of the weakest throwing arms among major-league outfielders.
Speaking Friday at the Hollywood law offices of Cohen and Cohen, Badillo said he simply wants a fair settlement because he fears the ''floaters'' he sees in his right eye will make it difficult for him to continue working in the printing-press business.
In these litigious times, lawsuits involving errant baseballs -- not to mention bats, rolled up T-shirts and other objects -- are hardly unprecedented.
South Florida, arguably, leads the league.
In 2002, a Pembroke Pines man lost a bid for $250,000 in damages after bazooka-toting team mascot Billy the Marlin fired a T-shirt into the upper deck -- and, allegedly, into the fan's eye.
A jury found that claim to be without merit.
COURT AWARDS
But two previous lawsuits resulted in million-dollar court awards.
Last month, jurors found the owners of the Houston Astros negligent for not warning fans of the potential danger of a line drive veering into the seats.
''To me, it's just sad that it's come to that,'' said Tommy Hutton, a former major leaguer who is now one of the Marlins' broadcasters. ``If Juan Pierre doesn't give the balls away, he is a jerk. You can't win. To me, it's just lawyers out of control.''
Many teams post warnings urging fans to stay alert for batted balls -- and offering to relocate them to a safer seat farther from the action on the field. And Marlins tickets have an explicit warning on the back saying that fans ''assume all risks'' involving errant bats and balls and cannot hold the team or major league baseball liable.
Of course, Badillo says he was hit not by a foul ball, but by a baseball deliberately flung into the sea of ticket-holders, making the assault willful.
Badillo's attorney, Donald Norton, said Pierre was ''negligent and reckless,'' and that he threw an overhand ball with ``great force.''
Badillo didn't even get to keep the baseball. It was long gone by the time he came to his senses.