Zack Of All Trades Tries To Get One More Win: In Court

In July, 2017 the A's acquired Dustin Fowler from the New York Yankees as he was recovering from a serious knee injury, a rupture of his right patella tendon. In December, 2017, Fowler sued the Chicago White Sox, claiming negligence due to an unpadded, metal electrical box that was located in precisely the area where Fowler impacted the wall. Fowler's lawsuit settled for an undisclosed amount of cash.

Now comes Gelof's lawsuit filed against the Detroit Tigers after Gelof badly lacerated his leg on July 9 when his pursuit of a foul fly ball took him into the side wall — where instead of padding there was a stretch of metal wiring that sliced Gelof's knee like a Veg-O-Matic and kept him out of action for a month.

Some injuries are preventable and many aren't. Some mishaps are the result of foreseeable gross negligence and many are just plain bad luck. Stadium operators are obliged to notice clear safety hazards, and many hazards only reveal themselves when a fluky play exposes a formerly unknown truth.