You know, Sluggerrr is quite terrifying when you really look at him. But no one has more to fear from the Royals mascot than John Coomer, who testified this week that he suffered a severe eye injury when he was the target of a thrown hot dog in 2009.
The KC Star is brilliant on this one, and more than a bit tongue-in-cheek:
In his lawsuit, Coomer said that Sluggerrr attempted to heave the frank into the stands with a behind-the-back throw. Instead of placing the hot dog in a high arch, Sluggerrr lost control and threw it right into Coomer's eye, the suit alleged.
At the stadium, he fired some hot dogs into the stands through an air cannon. Those dogs wore bubble-wrap blankets. But the ones Sluggerrr threw by hand were wrapped in foil. Shores described multiple types of tosses, including underhand, overhand and behind the back.
During cross examination, Hofer showed Shores video of a toss he made during a 2009 game and invited him to discuss the hot dog's "arc" and "velocity" as it sailed away.
Let's go to the videotape:
Fan says he got an eyeful in hot-dog toss by Royals' mascot [Kansas City Star]