02-23-2010 SLUGGERR HOT DOG STORY GOES NATIONAL Kansas City not only has possibly the worst Major League baseball team in all of baseball, but even the team's mascot is now being sued after "intentionally" hitting a fan with an errant hot dog. The story has been picked up by nearly 200 media outlets (so far), including Yahoo Sports, USA Today and the Washington Post. KCTV has done one of the most extensive stories on the malicious hot dogging, and was one of the few media outlets to initially name the attorney who is representing the defendant. The attorney is Robert Tormohlen (the station did not mention he has been practicing about 20 years and is with the heavy-duty KC law firm of Lewis, Rice & Fingersh). According to TV5, fan John Coomer filed the suit Feb. 8 claiming that at a game on Sept. 8 Sluggerr was on top of the third base dugout using an air cannon to shoot hot dogs into the stands. The suit claims that after Sluggerr finished shooting hot dogs with the air gun, he tossed hot dogs into the stand by hand. "Slugger(sic) attempted to throw a hotdog(sic) in the stands with a throw behind his back," the court petition said. "Instead of throwing the hotdog(sic) at an arch high into the stands, Slugger(sic) lost control of his throw, or was reckless with his throw, and threw a hotdog(sic) directly into Plaintiff, who was sitting a few feet away. The hotdog(sic) struck Plaintiff in his left eye." Coomer, a Kansas resident, suffered a detached retina and developed cataracts in his left eye, according to the suit. The suit claims that Coomer had two eye surgeries, but suffered permanent vision loss in his left eye. The suit claims the Royals were negligent and also committed battery because they failed to "exercise ordinary care in throwing hotdogs into the stands." The suit also claims the Royals didn't train and supervise its employees correctly in the proper method to throw hot dogs. While KCTV5 reported Coomer was asking for $25,000 in damages, the Kansas City Starsaid "the suit does not ask for a specific amount, but noted that Coomer's damages exceed $25,000."
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