Athletics player Zack Gelof sues Tigers after injuring knee at Comerica Park in July
Athletics player Zack Gelof is suing the Detroit Tigers, Ilitch Holdings and the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority for unspecified damages resulting from his injury during a July 9 game at Comerica Park.
Gelof was playing left field that day in Detroit when a Tigers batter hit a fly ball into foul territory near the left field line during the third inning. He ran toward the ball to make a catch and crashed into part of a fence. The lawsuit says the collision resulted in a gash on his right leg "that narrowly missed the patellar tendon."
The Tigers won the July 9 game against the Athletics, 4-1.
As a result of the injury, the lawsuit said, the 26-year-old Gelof missed 30 days of the 2026 MLB season. According to Gelof's MLB stats page, he was placed on the injured list for a "right knee laceration" and was assigned to the Las Vegas Aviators for rehab.
The lawsuit claims Gelof's "physical injury and its professional and economic consequences remain substantial."
The lawsuit was filed by Detroit-based attorneys Jon Marko and Gasper Stare in the Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit on Sept. 28 on behalf of Gelof.
"Professional stadiums and ballparks have a fundamental responsibility to ensure that their playing surfaces and surrounding structures are reasonably safe for the athletes whose talent and performance drive the sport and league revenues," Marko and Stare said in a statement. "The lawsuit seeks to hold Defendants accountable for allowing a foreseeable hazard to remain in the field of play and to recover the full measure of Gelof's physical, professional, and economic damages."
The Athletics, who are currently based in Sacramento, California, are in the American League West division. The Tigers are in the American League Central division. Neither team is moving on to the playoffs, which began this week.
Ilitch Holdings owns Comerica Park, which will be known as Fifth Third Park starting next season.
"We are aware of the lawsuit and do not comment on pending litigation," the Tigers said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
