The Colorado Rockies have set new lows for baseball futility in recent years; you may have heard by now that the 2025 edition is on pace to be quite possibly the worst team in the history of the sport, and well on its way to a seventh consecutive losing season. But are the Rockies so bad at baseball that they're a risk to public safety?
That's the argument of one local fan, Timothy Roeckel, who this week filed suit against the team in Denver District Court over “catastrophic and permanent injuries” he suffered after being hit in the face with a foul ball during a game against the New York Yankees back in July of 2023.
The first part of Roeckel's suit takes issue with the layout of Coors Field's luxury boxes, which he claims created a situation in which it was "not physically possible ... to see the foul ball from the seat in question." Which is easy enough to believe, given the way that overhangs in modern stadiums can limit fans' visibility at the park.
From there, though, things get a bit ... off the rails.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
The Rockies are bad, but blaming them for injury feels like a stretch
It's not just that Roeckel couldn't see the ball hurtling toward him. He's also arguing that the Rockies have been so bad for so long that fans can't possibly be expected to keep their eyes on the field for an extended period of time. No, seriously.
“Defendant’s longstanding poor performance on the field (has) contributed to a game-day environment in which spectators, particularly those in luxury suites, are less engaged with the action on the field,” Roeckel's attorneys argue. “This cultural shift is not incidental but rather encouraged by (the Rockies’) own marketing and design choices, which emphasize hospitality and off-field amenities over fan vigilance."
We're certainly not about to argue that the Rockies have put the most gripping product on the field for their fans in recent years; the 2023 edition lost 103 games, after all, and Colorado hasn't even bothered to try and contend of late. But even a bad baseball game is still, you know, a baseball game, one that features hard projectiles flying around at high speed. Arguing that you couldn't possibly have known that a foul ball was coming right for you is one thing; arguing that you couldn't possibly have been expected to know there was a foul ball in the first place is a bit of a stretch.
And besides, the Rockies actually went on to win the game in question, upsetting the Yankees in walk-off fashion. Coors Field remains among the most scenic and pleasant places to take in a baseball game, one that can be a pleasant distraction from the play on the field at times. But every adult knows the risks they're accepting when they buy a ticket, and not having your wits about you? That's on you.