Rockies Fan Hit by Foul Ball Sues Team for Poor Play, Stadium Design

A Colorado Rockies fan is suing the team for being bad.

Rockies fan Timothy Roeckel filed a complaint Monday in Denver District Court over an incident in 2023 when he was hit in the eye by a foul ball while sitting in a suite at Coors Field. One of his central claims is that the product on the field had been so poor that fans weren’t paying attention to the game.

The Rockies have started the 2025 season even worse than the 2024 White Sox, which hold MLB’s worst all-time record. The team fired its manager and bench coach earlier this month after a 7–33 start to the year. Colorado went 59–103 in 2023, the year of the foul ball incident, and 61–101 last season. The team has not made the postseason since 2018.

The filing says it “was not physically possible” for the fan, who was invited by a company to the July 16, 2023 game against the Yankees to see the foul ball coming from where he was sitting in the suite, blaming the box’s ceiling and the overhang of the bleachers. It says he got hit on the right side of his face and right eye, leaving “catastrophic and permanent injuries.” The filing says the team violated the Colorado Baseball Spectator Safety Act of 1993 and provided inadequate netting to protect fans.

The complaint then lists the Rockies’ record at the time of the incident (35–58) and says the poor play has made fans, especially there for business activities in suites, to be less focused on the action. “The diminished competitive quality of play has fostered a stadium culture in which socializing, dining, and business networking have become the primary focus for many attendees,” the lawsuit reads, and claims the suites were designed to host business meetings and networking events during games.

The filing says the Rockies have leaned into this shift of hospitality over spectating, citing the removal of right field seats to install a fan deck with limited views of the game as an example.

The complaint makes two claims, one for premises liability and the other for negligence. The fan is seeking unspecified damages and has requested a trial by jury.

A spokesperson for the Rockies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The complaint says the fan was struck during the first inning; the Rockies won the game 8–7 in 11 innings.