Q: At my son’s Little League game, a foul ball sailed over the fence and shattered the window of a parked car. Signs at the ballfield specify that the league is not responsible. One parent argued that the hitter’s family should replace the window. Our family thinks the player and his parents have no such obligation: Foul balls are part of the game. Who is right?
– Steve Fram, Palo Alto, Calif.
A: The league that runs the game (or the municipality that operates the ballpark) should pay for the window. It determines the conditions under which the game is played. The young players have little say in such things (along with notoriously shallow pockets). The league should also provide, or require each team to provide, insurance against such mishaps. Posting a sign doesn’t shield you.
Foul balls are indeed a part of the game, and I’d exempt the league here if that car had been parked between the third-base line and the dugout. That is: Foul balls are a risk accepted by those inside the ballpark, not those on the street nearby.
Fortunately, there is a real-world solution. Vanessa Wells, safety officer for the Palo Alto Little League, explains that “California insurance law generally treats auto damage involving a falling object as a no-fault claim on the car owner’s insurer. A baseball is regarded as such a falling object.”
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Q: A journalism major at college, I was delighted to land an internship at a national magazine. My editor asked me to post comments on one of the magazine’s online blogs, being sure not to mention my working for the magazine but to write in a style that suggests I’m a reader. That felt dirty to me. Advice?
– Nick McCarvel, Seattle
A: Your ethical instincts are excellent: It is wrong to deceive the readers, even implicitly, and that’s what your editor asked you to do.
Some well-known people have been nailed for such chicanery, even going as far as posting under assumed names, a practice sufficiently widespread that there’s a word for it – sock-puppeting.
It can be tough for the new guy to challenge an order from his supervisor. But you might say that you would feel more comfortable posting honestly and suggest that candid comments from Nick the New Intern could be a fine spark for reader discussion.
UPDATE: The editor left the magazine, apparently for unrelated reasons; McCarvel does not know what those reasons were.
Send questions and comments for Randy Cohen to Universal Press Syndicate, 4520 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64111, or ethicist@nytimes.com.
