Something great and unique about baseball is that every ballpark is different.

The dimensions of the actual diamond are standard, but after that, teams can pretty much design their home as they see fit. While MLB ballpark guidelines have generally established minimum fence distances, teams can construct a giant wall in left field or include seemingly endless foul territory down the first- or third-base lines.

In addition to varying dimensions, certain ballparks over the course of baseball history have contained quirks and oddities that you’d never see in other sports. We all know about the Green Monster at Fenway Park and ivy walls at Wrigley Field. However, as recently as 2015, Houston’s Minute Maid Park (recently renamed to Daikin Park) featured a slanted hill in center field with a flagpole in the field of play. We also saw many stadiums with bullpen mounds down the foul lines. Some baseball fans and officials consider these to be fun quirks. Others consider them to be hazards.

While MLB clubs have removed hills, flagpoles, and bullpen mounds in recent years for player safety reasons, certain hazards are still in the field of play that contain high risk of injury. Ex-big leaguer Darin Ruf’s collision with an uncovered tarp in Cincinnati is an unfortunate example.

Last week, Ruf filed a lawsuit in the Hamilton County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas against the Cincinnati Reds for damages after he suffered a career-ending injury while crashing into an uncovered tarp roller at Great American Ball Park in 2023. The lawsuit charges the Reds with negligence in failing to maintain safe field conditions and specifically cites the presence of the unpadded metal tarp roller.

Ruf was playing first base for the Brewers when he was injured during the Brewers' 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Reds on June 2, 2023. In the third inning, Ruf was chasing a foul pop when his knee hit the end of the tarp roller.

According to the complaint, Ruf suffered "permanent and substantial deformities to his knee." Ruf went on the 60-day injured list and never played in the major leagues again. Ruf's complaint says the end of the tarp roller was made of sharp metal and had no protective cushioning or cap.

"This was an obvious and avoidable risk," Tad Thomas, Ruf's attorney, said in a release announcing the lawsuit. "There are basic safety protocols every MLB team should follow. Leaving an unpadded metal roller on the edge of the field is inexcusable." "This didn't need to happen," Ruf said himself in the statement. "I wish it didn't happen. Players shouldn't have to worry about hidden hazards like that on a major league field."

Ruf is seeking punitive and compensatory damages. The complaint says the Reds didn't take reasonable precautions to keep the stadium safe and also are liable for the negligent acts of the grounds crew's "reckless" conduct. To date, the Reds have not provided a statement or update on the matter.

Ruf is not the first MLB player to sue after suffering an injury. Former MLB outfielder Mac Williamson sued the San Francisco Giants and the owners of Oracle Park over a concussion he suffered in 2018. The lawsuit claimed his injury, which ended his career, was caused by tripping over a bullpen mound in foul territory and hitting his head on the outfield wall. Williamson alleged that the placement of the bullpen mounds in foul territory created an unreasonable risk of harm. While the outcome of the lawsuit was not publicly disclosed, the Giants did remove the bullpens in foul territory to beyond the outfield fences in 2020.

Outside the baseball context, longtime NFL running Reggie Bush won a lawsuit against the St. Louis Rams for $12.5 million in 2018 after suffering a knee injury in a game after slipping on a concrete surface when he was pushed out of bounds. 

It will be interesting to see what comes of this suit both on the micro and macro level. While it’s likely this individual case settles behind closed doors, nearly every MLB stadium without a roof features a rolled-up tarp along the foul lines. Ruf’s lawsuit may bring about proper protocols and regulations that mandate that these tarps are sufficiently padded and always covered to reduce injury risk for players. MLB and the MLBPA have a common interest in ensuring player safety, so I’m sure this lawsuit will spark discussions between the league and grounds crews across the league to help prevent injuries (and lawsuits) in the future.

 Brendan Bell is a Rising 3L at SMU Dedman School of Law. He can be followed on Twitter (X) @_bbell5