According to an April 11th Associated Press story, Jennifer Harughty has sued the Houston Astros, alleging that, during a game last season, her index finger was shattered after being stuck by a t-shirt that had been launched into the stands – from a “bazooka style” cannon -- by the team’s mascot, Orbit.  It allegedly required two surgeries to repair her fractured finger.  Ms. Harughty alleged such things as negligence by the Astros in not using reasonable care in the firing of the T-shirt cannon and failure to warn.

The Astros said in a statement that the team is “aware of the lawsuit with allegations regarding Orbit’s T-shirt launcher.  We do not agree with the allegations. The Astros will continue to use fan popular T-shirt launchers during games.  As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment on this matter.”

Man I love cases like this.  Last season the lovable Phillie Phanatic allegedly injured a fan’s face when she was struck by a hot dog, wrapped in duct tape, that the adorable fury green thing had launched into the crowd using a similar bazooka style device.

Shortly after the Phanatic incident I wrote, for The Wall Street Journal, about the legal liability of sports teams for their mascots that cause injuries to fans.  You can check it out here:

http://www.coverageopinions.info/FlyingHotDogs.pdf