Fan Sues Baseball Player Over Throw Into Stands

The 2023 World Series is in the books, but one aspect of the 2021 World Series is playing out in the courtroom. A woman has sued the Atlanta Braves and player Jorge Soler, alleging that he recklessly threw a ball into the stands that resulted in severe damage to her eye, reports Atlanta News First. The incident happened just before the fifth inning of Game 3 was to begin, after the players had finished their warmups. "Defendant Soler did not softly toss the ball into the stands to the crowd," the lawsuit filed by fan Mayra Norris alleges. "He threw the ball overhand, with a great deal of speed and force," per 11Alive.

Norris says in her suit that the ball crushed her eye socket and caused other "serious and excruciating injuries," some of which linger to this day. Braves security personnel ushered Norris to medical help immediately, and she wound up having surgery the following month. "This was not a situation where a player is throwing a souvenir ball to a fan or visitor to the game," Norris attorney Susan Shaw tells the Washington Post. "This is a situation where he threw overhand with extreme force and speed. There was no time for her to react."

Soler, who was named World Series MVP after his Braves won the championship that year, has not commented, nor have the Braves. Soler now plays for the Miami Marlins. Norris, who says her injury also put a crimp in her marriage and hurt her ability to care for her children (in part because she couldn't drive for months), is seeking unspecified damages as well as compensation for all past and future medical expenses. (More Major League Baseball stories.)