Former longtime Major League Baseball veteran Darin Ruf is suing 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, according to a lawsuit filed in the Hamilton County (Ohio) Court of Common Places.
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The suit, according to the Associated Press, “charges the Reds with negligence in failing to maintain safe field conditions and specifically cites the presence of the unpadded metal tarp roller.”
“This didn’t need to happen,” Ruf said in a statement. “I wish it didn’t happen. Players shouldn’t have to worry about hidden hazards like that on a major league field.”
Ruf, a nine-year MLB veteran, was playing with the Milwaukee Brewers at the time of the incident.
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In the third inning of a June 2023 game against the Reds, he was chasing a ball in foul territory when his knee hit the end of the tarp roller. Here’s a video of the play:
According to the complaint, the veteran infielder/outfielder suffered “permanent and substantial deformities to his knee.”
Ruf ended up being placed on the 60-day injured list a few days later with a non-displaced fracture of his patella in addition to a deep laceration in his knee. He wouldn’t play another game in MLB.
This story will be updated…
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