In sports, injuries and lawsuits are no strangers to one another. With games played at often dizzying speeds under the highest levels of competition, players getting hurt is often part of the equation. In some cases, the injured look to assign blame to the game itself and the people who run it. In others, an individual in a unique situation turns to the courts seeking a remedy for what they believe was an avoidable incident.
On May 22, 2025, former Major League Baseball (MLB) player Darin Ruf filed a lawsuit against the Cincinnati Reds in Hamilton County, Ohio. He alleges that a career-ending knee injury suffered by running into the unpadded end of a tarp roller in the Great American Ball Park in 2023 was due to the negligence of the Reds and their organization.
What's the value of a journeyman baseball player who was likely near the end of his professional career at the time of the injury? Assuming the case makes it to trial, it may be one of the questions that determines whether Ruf hits a home run or strikes out.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Rain and baseball do not pair well together. While other outdoor sports such as soccer, football, and rugby accept precipitation as part of the game, it adds an element of danger to baseball that can't be ignored. When a pitcher is throwing a solid sphere at speeds that exceed 100 miles per hour mere inches from another player's head, having rain affect their grip is asking for tragedy.
Outfields and other grassy areas in MLB parks are engineered to get rid of excessive moisture quickly. The infield is a little more complex. Designed to be as smooth and even as possible to avoid affecting ground balls, it uses a combination of sand, silt, and clay. Known as either infield mix or baseball clay, the exact amounts used vary from park to park. In general, sand makes up 60-70% of the ingredients, which aids in water passing through.
Clay and silt tend to keep the rain around in the form of puddles, which is anathema to baseball. When a downpour is significant, the game is halted and the field crew goes to work covering the infield. This is accomplished by using a roller to spread out an enormous tarp, which can be as large as 170' x 170'. While the actual technique differs, it's accomplished by many people using manual labor to get it in place.
When not in use, tarps are stored on their roller along the retaining wall along either the first- or third-base line. Although they're tucked away as much as possible, they are in the field of play and a hazard players occasionally have to deal with. In the case of Darin Ruf, it was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When Retirement Is No Longer Your Choice
Ruf suffered his career-ending injury while playing first base for the Milwaukee Brewers. Chasing a pop fly that was angling into the stands on the first-base side, he ran into the unpadded end of the tarp roller. With a large bloodstain visible over his knee on the pants of his uniform, the injury forced Ruf to leave the game. Placed on the 60-day injured reserve list, he never played in another MLB game.
Ruf may have a viable negligence claim against the Reds, although the team can, and likely will, argue they were not negligent. But even if a jury does find them negligent, what he may receive as relief is likely to be hotly contested. Making it to the Major Leagues is an amazing accomplishment that few can brag about, but among his peers, Ruf's stats indicate a mediocre player. Injured at age 37, Ruf was already playing for his third team of the year, having been released by the New York Mets and refusing a minor-league assignment from the San Francisco Giants. The Reds could play hardball in settlement negotiations.
Ruf played for parts of nine seasons in MLB, with a few years in Japan in the middle. His career batting average was .239, and his wins above replacement (WAR) was 1.2. For comparison, the median battering average is .303 and the average WAR is 64.9 for members of MLB's Hall of Fame. Given that two teams had already given up on him in 2023 and his batting average was .224 when he was injured, how much of a future in MLB did Ruf have to lose?
Not including his time in Japan, Ruf earned over $9 million through contracts during his career. The minimum salary for an MLB player in 2024 was $740,000, which is prorated by days spent on a team's active roster. If the Reds are found liable for Ruf's injury, it'll be up to a jury to determine how many of those games an older player with a declining batting average would have played in.
Related Resources
- Can You Sue if You're Hurt at a Sporting Event? (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Top 7 Questions for Sports Injury Lawsuits (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Making a Lost Wages Claim (FindLaw's Accidents and Injuries Legal Guide)
