Former MLB player suing ex-division rival over career-ending injury: ‘Obvious and avoidable risk’

An ex-Major League Baseball player is blaming a former opponent for his career-ending injury.

Darin Ruf played first base for the Milwaukee Brewers June 2, 2023, in a game against the NL Central rival Cincinnati Reds. Little did he know it would be the final game of his career.

In the third inning, Ruf was chasing a pop-up in foul territory when his knee crashed into the end of the field tarp roller. Ruf badly cut his knee and limped off the field with the help of a trainer.

Ruf’s complaint says the end of the tarp roller was made of sharp metal and had no protective cushioning or cap. The TV broadcast of the game said there was a “significant hunk of metal … that doesn’t give very much.”

Ruf went on the 60-day injured list and never played in the major leagues again.

His initial injury, aside from the laceration, was ruled a non-displaced fracture of his patella. But, according to Ruf’s complaint, he suffered “permanent and substantial deformities to his knee.” 

“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.”

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“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.”

The Reds did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The situation is similar to Dustin Fowler’s. In his major league debut in 2017, he injured a knee in Chicago after running into an electrical box while chasing down a pop fly. Fowler, who would have led off the next inning for his first plate appearance in the majors, sued the White Sox for negligence. 

The Yankees traded him roughly a month after the injury for Sonny Gray, and Fowler’s first MLB hit came against Gray the next year.

Ruf, 38, played in the majors from 2012 to 2023 with the Philadelphia Phillies (2012-16), San Francisco Giants (2020-22, 2023), New York Mets (2022) and Brewers (2023). He batted .239 with a .329 on-base percentage, 67 homers and 205 RBI in 582 career games.

At the time of the injury, Ruf was playing in his 11th game with the Brewers after playing in nine games in his second stint with the Giants. He had been designated for assignment by San Francisco before joining Milwaukee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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