Should Baseball Stadiums Stop Selling Beer to "Large" People?

A gruesome story from Yankee Stadium likely to lead to a lawsuit. Paul Robinson, visiting the Big Apple from Washington state, was enjoying a game last week when a large unidentified fan sitting a few rows behind him fell onto his head, snapping Robinson's neck:

"It felt like my head had been ripped off," Robinson told the Daily News from his hospital bed. . . . The man who fell was dragged away by his friends and never bothered to apologize or check how badly Robinson was hurt. The family believes he was drunk.

"I found it odd that they didn't even ask if Paul was OK," Robinson's wife, Kathy, told the Daily News. "It's very steep up there, but if it was an innocent trip, they would ask if Paul was OK."

The AP notes the incident is similar to one at Shea stadium last spring, in which "a 58-year-old woman suffered a broken back when a very large drunk crashed into her during a fall."

Obviously, the torts teacher in me asks, "Are the Yankees / Mets liable"? This is more than an academic question, since the Mets fan has filed suit against the stadium and beer vendor and it would be quite un-American for Mr. Robinson not to do so.

While stadium-goers are typically barred from recovering for injuries due to batted balls (see Greg's post here), that's because batted balls are considered an "inherent" part of the game. While some level of rowdiness and contact are to be expected when attending a game, the risk that a "large drunk fan" will fall onto one's neck is hardly integral to the game of baseball. New York also has a "dram shop" law, which provides

Any person who shall be injured in person, property, means of support, or otherwise by any intoxicated person, or by reason of the intoxication of any person, whether resulting in his death or not, shall have a right of action against any person who shall, by unlawful selling to or unlawfully assisting in procuring liquor for such intoxicated person, have caused or contributed to such intoxication.

Assuming the large fans at issue were served after reaching the point of intoxication (something that could probably be demonstrated by witness testimony or video evidence), the stadium and beer vendors seem clearly on the hook. Might this be a case where size matters, in the sense that an intoxicated person of substantial proportions poses a greater risk of causing serious harm to other fans?

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