Former longtime Major League Baseball veteran Darin Ruf is suing the Cincinnati Reds for damages after he suffered a career-ending injury while crashing into an uncovered tarp roller at Great American Ball Park in 2023, according to a lawsuit filed in the Hamilton County (Ohio) Court of Common Places.
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The suit, according to the Associated Press, “charges the Reds with negligence in failing to maintain safe field conditions and specifically cites the presence of the unpadded metal tarp roller.”
“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.”
Ruf, a nine-year MLB veteran, was playing with the Milwaukee Brewers at the time of the incident.
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In the third inning of a June 2023 game against the Reds, he was chasing a ball in foul territory when his knee hit the end of the tarp roller. Here’s a video of the play:
According to the complaint, the veteran infielder/outfielder suffered “permanent and substantial deformities to his knee.”
Ruf ended up being placed on the 60-day injured list a few days later with a non-displaced fracture of his patella in addition to a deep laceration in his knee. He wouldn’t play another game in MLB.
“This was an obvious and avoidable risk,” Ruf’s attorney Tad Thomas 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.”
Ruf was in the midst of his ninth season in the league and was 36 years old at the time of the injury. Across 20 games that season with the Brewers and San Francisco Giants, he slashed .224/.333/.286 with three runs batted in and an OPS of .619.
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Ruf was initially selected in the 20th round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He debuted in 2012 and spent five seasons with Philadelphia before playing in the Korea Baseball Organization for three years.
He then reemerged in MLB with the Giants, and also spent some time with the New York Mets.
Across 581 career MLB games, Ruf slashed .239/.329/.427 with 67 home runs, 205 RBIs and an OPS of .756.
In September 2024, he joined the University of Nebraska, Omaha baseball program as an assistant coach.
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