Mother of boy hit by thrown baseball sues Los Angeles Angels for negligence

ANAHEIM, Calif. — A 6-year-old boy suffered a fractured skull and brain damage when he was accidentally hit by a baseball thrown by a Los Angeles Angels player who was warming up before a game at the team's home stadium in 2019, according to a lawsuit announced Thursday that blames the injury on the team's negligence.

The lawsuit by the boy's mother Beatrice Galaz said the team should have more netting along the side of the field and players shouldn't throw balls during warmups in areas where spectators could be struck, especially when the team is encouraging fans to arrive early to try to meet players.

On Sept. 15, 2019, her son Bryson was walking with his father in the first row of stadium seating toward the dugout, where players were meeting fans and signing autographs more than an hour and a half before the game, the lawsuit said. He was struck on the side of the head when pitcher Keynan Middleton, who was warming up on the field, threw a ball toward another Angels player who missed the catch.

Bryson was rushed to the emergency room in critical condition and sent to a children's hospital for monitoring for 2 1/2 days, said Kyle Scott, the family's lawyer. Since then, Bryson has done well academically but has difficulties paying attention and with social interaction, and medical exams show abnormal brain activity, which raises concerns about his longer-term development, Scott said.

«We were relieved that he survived, but since that day he has struggled in school,» Galaz, of Anaheim, said in a statement released Thursday. «He's simply not the same.»

A message was sent to the Angels seeking comment.

The lawsuit filed April 1 was announced on Opening Day for Major League Baseball at a news conference near Angel Stadium,