Jon L. Christensen: “I read with great interest an editorial found in Monday's Wall Street Journal article by Creighton Hale. Mr. Hale is the…”

“I read with great interest an editorial found in Monday's Wall Street Journal article by Creighton Hale. Mr. Hale is the CEO of Little League Baseball and he made a very good case for the need for legal reform. One example he gave was this: Imagine the situation: The batter hits a pop fly to center, but your centerfielder is playing the position for the first time. He moved there because the regular kid has the flu. The pop fly hits him in the eye. As the coach, what do you do? Pull the infield in and play for the plate? Call time and head for the pitcher's mound? How about try calling a lawyer? You see, in a real life case similar to the one just described, the centerfielder's parents filed suit against the coach who stationed their child under the ill-fated pop fly. They sought compensation for pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages. In another case described by Mr. Hale was litigation that resulted from two boys colliding in the outfield. They picked each other up--and then sued the coach. Another player sued when a stray dog intruded on the field of play and bit him. And in one of the most outrageous cases I have heard of a woman won a cash settlement when she was hit by a ball that a player failed to catch. The irony here is that the player was her own daughter. The Little League has seen its liability insurance skyrocket 1,000 percent over a 5-year period. From $75 per league annually to $795 per league.”