Superintendent
Folsom Cordova
Unified School (FCUSD)
1965 Birkmont Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742-6407
Re: Head First
Slide: Baseball
Date: September 30,
2015
Ms. Bettencourt:
Because of your
decision to accept the recommendation of attorney J. Scott Donald and effective
the date of this letter, the FCUSD is on formal notice of the following: the
head first slide when executed sliding into first, second, and third base, and
home plate in baseball and softball may cause serious head and brain injuries,
full or partial body paralysis, and a number of other life threatening
injuries. Heretofore, the FCUSD has without reason ignored the extant
literature involving head first slides in baseball and softball presented to
the central administration and school board members multiple times by Dr.
Albert J. Figone since 2011. And,
allowed, sanctioned, and approved its coaches and players: teaching, learning,
and executing the head first slide in practices, games, and non-FCUSD sites
under the supervision of a certified coach or credentialed employee of the
FCUSD.
The “new standard of
care” regarding the head first slide has been promulgated by Dr. Robert Cantu,
a head injury expert and former baseball player, who has recommended “eliminating
the head first side at all levels in baseball.” Also, the FCUSD, to my
knowledge, has not implemented an updated prevention and response plan in the
event of a serious head injury in baseball and softball as recommended by Dr.
Herb Appenzeller, a leading expert and author and expert on risk management for
more than four decades.
Dr. Figone’s published paper [American Baseball
Coaches Association (ABCA) Coaches Digest] titled: “What’s Behind the Increased
Amateur Baseball Litigation: Assessing A Coach’s Liability For Injuries and
Death” stated in part:
courts have determined a coach’s duty is
to not unnecessarily
increase the risk of injury inherent in
skill execution and must
teach, drill, and practically minimize the
risk of injury to
players under his/her supervision.
Dr. Michael Minnix,
Sr, a child safety advocate, asserted: “a sport participant does not waiver or
release claims based on a coach’s teaching of improper and unsafe sports
techniques and execution of assignments, or exposure of athletes to
unreasonable risks below the standard of care resulting in severe injury and or
death.” The Supreme Court has enunciated that “sports participation consent to
play a sport and waivers cannot void liability or immunize an individual from
gross negligence defined as reckless, wanton, or willful misconduct, not mere
negligence.”
At the least,
because of the impossibly of thoroughly learning all of the aspects of a skill
(head first slide) that is clearly unsafe in almost all baseball and softball
situations, the head first slide should be barred at all levels of the sport.
Returning to a base after assuming primary lead and attempted pitcher pickoff
is the only manner to safely slide head first in the two sports.
Mr. Donald’s citing
of the National Federation of State High School Federations’ rule stating: “a
legal [baseball or softball] slide may be feet or head first” is flawed for the
following reasons:
1. The rule can only
be interpreted as meaning an individual who slides head first will not be
penalized, ejected, or suspended or suffer the consequences of any other rule
that a school, league, state, or national federation has the authority to
impose before, during, and after a contest. This is analogous to following a
rules book for a sport. In fact,
variability in the prohibition of the head first slide is not uncommon in
amateur baseball in the United States and worldwide.
2. Mr. Donald’s data
source in which the nature and type of research involving slides used in various
levels of baseball was presented in support of the head first slide was:
incomplete, stale, and omitted a least 10 catastrophic injuries incurred while
sliding head first [full or partial body paralyses] in the last 10 years and as
recently as 2010 [Cory Hahn at Arizona State].
3. The latest [2015]
concussion-based injuries reported in baseball have been foul balls repeatedly
jarring a catcher’s face mask ostensible causing the brain to repeatedly
contact the skull causing several mini-concussions.
4. The statement a
“head first slide is legal….does not infer the head first slide is not an
unreasonable risk of injury;”
and,
a. unlawful in a civil or criminal court if it
was determined the slide as taught and executed
unnecessarily increased the inherent risks
of sliding in baseball or softball; and,
b. the duty of care owed to each athlete was neglected;
and,
c. the damage or injury from the head first
slide was a result of a
breach in the standard of care.
Non-athletic local,
state, and national federation rules authored by non-law making athletic
association can be interpreted by the courts as arbitrary and capricious if
they unnecessarily increase the inherent risks of sliding in baseball or
softball. In 2015, coaches in all sports
are aware that athletes in all sports must take “their heads out the game.” A
pitcher in baseball who tucks his glove or lead arm behind his or her back is
clearly vulnerable to a line drive hit directly to his head. As is a batter hit
in the head with a pitch. The 2015 standard of care mandates that all coaches
in baseball and softball teach, drill, and practice how to correctly use the
lead or glove arm synchronized with the throwing arm in pitching and the most
efficient manner in avoiding a pitch at the head while batting.
Because of my over
60 years of experience in baseball including playing at the youth, high school,
college and professional levels, coaching at the high school, college, and
professional levels, and authoring over 60 technical articles and three books,
it would be unethical, unprofessional, and unconscionable for me not to
advocate the elimination of the head first slide in the two sports. My
sincerest hopes and prayers are that no player ever unnecessarily suffers a
head injury in any sport.
Respectfully,
/AJF/
Dr. Albert J. Figone
Legal Baseball
Expert
916.716.2020
Word Count:1012
C/c J. Scott Donald
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