The Arizona Court of Appeals agreed that a sports rehabilitation company in Tempe owes compensation to a Milwaukee Brewers’ former first-round draft pick for a career-ending eye injury he suffered in a batting-practice accident.
An appeals panel unanimously upheld a Maricopa County Superior Court judge’s decision to allow a jury to determine the lost earning capacity of Kenneth Felder, who progressed through the Brewers’ minor league teams until suffering an elbow injury in 1997.
Physiotherapy Associates, a national company with a Tempe facility, contested a $4.9 million judgment awarded to Felder, arguing the jury’s conclusion that the 1992 pick from Florida State University would have reached the Major Leagues was speculative at best.
The company was found liable after Felder’s eye was severely injured in 1998 while taking batting practice at the Tempe facility during a rehab stint to fix a torn elbow ligament.
Scott Boehm, Felder’s attorney, said his client now has a successful career as a players’ agent, and Physiotherapy Associates has agreed to a confidential settlement and will not appeal.
“The bottom line is the case is over and the Court of Appeals decision was accepted by both sides,” he said.
The jury at the trial court level heard testimony that the area Felder was practicing in was designed for recuperating pitchers and not intended for hitting drills. According to court documents, a baseball ricocheted from a concrete lip and smashed Felder’s eye socket, ruptured his cornea and caused bleeding in his eye sufficient to fill his nasal cavity with blood for several days.
His vision never completely returned and Felder was repeatedly ordered to leave the Brewers’ spring training camp after failing a team physical. He was also released from a contract that was extended to keep Felder through 1998.
Expert testimony in the trial level on Felder’s skills differed dramatically. Al Goldis, a veteran scouting and drafting specialist with the New York Mets, testified Felder was more powerful than Frank Thomas, a feared 6’ 5”, 260 lbs. slugger with 492 career home runs.
‘A power hitter’
As an expert witness, former state senator and sports agent Slade Mead compared Felder to power hitting first-round draft picks Jeremy Burnitz and Geoff Jenkins, and stated a seven-year contract for Felder would have netted approximately $28 million.
“He was terrific,” said Mead, noting Felder also played football for Florida State University. “A first-round pick; a big man; a power hitter. To be a first-round pick you’ve got to have a lot of skills.”
Witnesses presented by Physiotherapy Associates at the trial court were not as optimistic about Felder’s prospects of becoming a big league impact player. Eddie Epstein, a statistical evaluator for several major league teams, and Steve Phillips, a former Mets general manager and current ESPN baseball analyst, testified Felder’s chances of making the big leagues “were slim,” according to the Court of Appeals opinion.
But Judge Patrick Irvine disagreed with Physiotherapy Associates’ argument that Felder needed to prove he would have been promoted to the Major League level to collect damages. He pointed to the outfielder’s ascension through A and AA level baseball, and the Brewers’ decision to sign him to multiple contracts.
“Felder had more than a vague hope of a successful career as a professional baseball player,” wrote Irvine in the 3-0 opinion.