KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Baseball fans who sit six rows behind the third-base dugout at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium know there’s a chance they might have to duck a few foul balls from time to time.
But a Kansas man says it was a flying hot dog, not a baseball, that almost put his eye out while watching a Royals game late last summer.
John Coomer filed a lawsuit against the Kansas City Royals earlier this month seeking more than $25,000 for injuries he sustained Sept. 8 when he was smacked in the eye with a hot dog chucked into the seats by the team’s mascot, Sluggerrr.
Coomer said the wayward wiener caused a detached retina and the development of cataracts in his left eye, forcing him to undergo two eye surgeries. In his lawsuit, Coomer claims he suffered permanent impairment of his vision and is at a greater risk of future eye problems.
Royals director of media relations David Holtzman said the team does not comment on pending litigation.
“We’re not going to comment on any legal issues,” Holtzman told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
