Can An Aluminum Bat Kill...???

((HT: Helena Independent Record-Brandt/KRTV-TV, Great Falls))

That's the question in a Montana courtroom this past week and next...

Six years ago, Brandon Patch was pitching to a Helena Senators hitter, who was using an aluminum Louisville Slugger bat, when he was struck in the temple by the ball on July 25, 2003.

Patch died at a hospital about four hours later.

Patch's mother is seeking damages from the makers of Louisville Slugger bats in a civil trial. Debbie Patch's attorneys ((Joe White is pictured, thanks Eliza Wiley/Helena Independent Record)) argue the case is not a freak accident.

Louisville Slugger attorney Rob Sterup said the outcome could have been the same with any bat. "If some other bat was used, the ball would have been hit just as hard, if not harder."

Now we get to the official legalese, thanks to Angela Brandt...

Patch's attorneys claim her son's death was caused by the "defective and unreasonably dangerous product because the bat was designed and manufactured to allow the ball to be hit with such significant force as to endanger the safety of those playing the game."

They also maintain there were no warnings given to anyone using or playing around an aluminum bat stating the possible dangers...

Patch is chasing punitive damages, naturally, and thinks H&B acted "with malice." She's also seeking "actual" damages in an amount to be determined during the trial.

Sterup says it is hard to comprehend someone dying while playing a game, and many times family members are looking for answers.

Here's your opening voiceover from KRTV in Great Falls...


While those of us at OSG HQ undoubtedly feel sorry for the Patch family's loss...
We think this is a lawsuit searching for answers rather than a lawsuit searching for a purpose and making a statement...