Back in July, when the Athletics were still competing for a postseason spot, 26-year-old Zack Gelof ran to catch Zach McKinstry’s hit along the left-field line, but thanks to an exposed metal chain-link, his right knee was injured, and he was ruled out for a month. Now, months later, the third baseman has decided to sue his then-opponent, the Detroit Tigers.
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The incident took place when the Athletics were playing on the road at Comerica Park on July 9. Ironically enough, Zack did complete the catch as he began sliding. But moments later, his right knee also made contact with the fence, even catching the audience by surprise.
“Attorneys for Athletics super-utility player Zack Gelof filed a lawsuit Monday in a Michigan court, naming the Tigers, Ilitch Holdings, Inc.” Fox40’s Brett Stover noted. “and the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority as defendants.”
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As the slow-motion replay was played, a tear right below his right kneecap was visible as he clutched it in pain. The lawsuit has noted that the fencing caused the tear in his uniform, which led to “a severe laceration beneath his right kneecap” that narrowly missed Gelof’s patellar tendon.
As per the filing, the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority will serve as the defendant.
“No one expects to be injured due to exposed fencing,” Gelof’s attorney, Gasper Stare, said in an interview with The Athletic on September 29. “Not in a professional stadium, where everyone else involved are making 10s of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars off the performance of these athletes.”
As per the suit, it was the defendant who failed to “identify unreasonable risk,” and that the Detroit Tigers team was not able to fulfill their duties as a result of what had occurred.
While Gelof’s attorney spoke about how no one ideally expects to leave with such an injury, this would hardly be the first time such an incident has taken place.
Back in 2017, Dustin Fowler found himself in a similar position, that too, on his MLB debut. In a game against the Chicago White Sox, he was chasing a foul ball in the first inning of the game. For him, the incident took a rather serious turn, ending his rookie season after he came into contact with a metal electrical box that was near the wall of the outfield area.
In the coming year, Fowler would go on to sue the White Sox in 2018, which ultimately led to a settlement.
Meanwhile, The Athletic also reached out to other entities for comments on the matter, with Gasper Stare, Gelof’s attorney, giving further comments on the matter.
Zack Gelof’s Attorney Sheds Light on Communication with the Detroit Tigers
For Gelof, this year was looking like a real breakout season until things ended badly. In 2026, he had a 3.5 WAR and even touched career highs in home runs and overall hits (22 and 76, respectively).
While not much light was shed on whether the player and his attorney had been in any talks with the Athletics, Gasper Stare confirmed that there had been attempts to reach out to the Detroit Tigers.
“I can’t give you the exact details,” Stare said according to The Athletic on September 29, “but yes, we tried to reach out to Tigers and Ilitch Holdings to resolve this without even having to file a lawsuit, and we were ignored.”
In addition to this, The Athletic’s Sam Blum also wrote about how one MLB spokesperson had chosen not to respond to the outlet’s request for a comment.
Interestingly, the outlet also reported that the Detroit Tigers denied Gelof’s attorney’s comments by saying that, “the suggestion that there was no response to efforts to resolve the matter is not accurate.”
Eventually, Gelof made his return on August 10 for almost two months of regular-season baseball. In his return game itself, he even launched the ball for a home run, ensuring fans that his return was an overall success.
While Gelof’s second season with the Athletics has been an overall success, the third baseman will soon turn 27 and will be hopeful to soon play postseason baseball in the MLB. As for the case itself, it could go on for a while. Eventually, Dustin Fowler’s case lasted about four years, and with any luck, all parties would be hoping for a quicker resolution to this matter.
