[jarvol]

Nobody to blame but himself. It isn't like somebody pushed him.

[jose21_us]

Dam thats fuked up...

[ECash]

As a father of a 7 year old, I feel like it could have been me or any father doing something like that. If Josh Hamilton is throwing me a ball and it is my son's first baseball game, I can see myself trying a little too hard to get my boy a ball. Really tough situation to think about as a dad.

[Glada Tartan]

Just amazing.. poor bastard

[maersksealand]

Not at all dude show some respect. Maybe if he fell 3 feet onto the field it would be funny but nothing is funny about falling 20+ feet onto hard concrete head-first. That wasn't funny at all and even if the guy walked away from it it still wouldn't have been funny. How could you laugh at someone taking a head-first 20 foot dive onto concrete?

very unlucky event...he landed bad, normaly I would think someone should survive a 20f fall

[Dad]

[HoulihansTX]

Josh Hamilton did not know the guy died until after the game.

The fault lies with the poor contruction of the safety railings. Most of the time new safety precautions, and regulations are written in blood.

Josh Hamilton will be fine if he can realize that feeling sorry for himself would be the incorrect way to handle this situation. The people who should garner the most sympathy, and attention is the deceased immediate family.

[NYSportsGuy210]

Poor kid....I see him with his litte red Rangers Jersey on at the 0:57 mark.

[jjgold]

One of worst things I ever saw
How does boy recover?

[Deuce]

Cardiac Arrest he suffered from which caused the death. Now the troubling part, if he hadn't fallen would he have had a heart attack? Was it because he was scared of the incident, his boy being all alone etc. which set off his heart attack?

[TR88]

fuk him he deserved to die

1 less, i dont give a fuk pal

damn...what a stupid dumb smelly indian, fuk u and ur whole family f\*g

[Bluehorseshoe]

I read that this is the 3rd time something like this happened in this park, you would think they would've already done something to prevent this problem.

I agree. You don't have to raise the railing if you think it's going to block people's vision of the game. Just put out some kind of netting that protrudes from the wall below.

[DwightShrute]

Rangers Fan Dies After Falling Out Of Stands During Game


fukk me!

[linedrivr]

Strange that the guy that fell from the 2nd deck last year was also a fire fighter.

very sad situation for the family, the players and the Rangers organization. In addition to the families loss, how do you think Josh Hamilton feels today? wow........

and what a coincidence it was another firefighter that falls over the railing in that ballpark. The one that fell off the 2nd deck there last year is lucky to be alive. This guy was not so fortunate. his poor son had to watch that happen and daddy is not coming home anymore.

prayers sent to the family and to Josh! what a tragedy.

[DwightShrute]

nevermind, never saw the other thread

[tweb11]

The fault lies with the infatuation of these people wanting a foull ball. Josh was just being a nice guy and now he has idiots on here talking about his addictons again, it was an accident that could happen again tonight if you want to reach for a foul ball again.

[Timmy430]

I really hope that little boy behind him wasn't his son :-(

[marcoloco]

that sucks... sad story

[DemoralizdDreamr]

THat ball park is the worst ever constructed.

[jjgold]

He did reach out way too far for the ball
I guess just instincts

[Tech N9ne]

Yea that ballpark is cursed

[Jerm3462]

Yea that ballpark is cursed

Especially for pitchers

[Tech N9ne]

Especially for pitchers

Yep

[WvGambler]

Blaming anyone in this situation is dumb. The Guy was just acting naturally, Hamilton was acting naturally, the announcers certainly did not know the man was harmed. It looked harmless to them. Sometimes shit just happens...we don't have to run out and crucify someone over It. Just so unfortunate. Nets should circle entire ballparks. Shouldn't be able to hit linedrives into crowds of people either.

Biggest shame is That this poor kid was present for it. You don't recover from that.

[MexicanStallion]

I think WV said everything well. It's just a terrible accident that happened. The announcers probably shouldn't have been laughing, because either way the fall would have hurt him bad had he not landed on his head etc.. Such a shame that the little boy had to see what happened.

[bigsmitty]

I don't know if this is the first instance like this but I've been wondering how long before something like this happens. As a business, etc you cannot trust anyone to take any personal accountability for their own safety. Obviously it's tragic and the guy made a "natural move" to catch a momento but everything must be absolutely dummy-proof in this age. "Protect yourself at all times" should be everyone's first instinct instead of a foreign concept. Sad stuff is the end result.

[balls2wall]

Man, I felt really horrible watching that this morning. That was really depressing watching that kid see his dad fall to his eventual death. I hope it doesn't mess his mind up too much in the long term. That is the kind of thing that could cause that kids life to head in the wrong direction never to pull out of it.


very sad

[balls2wall]

fuk him he deserved to die

1 less, i dont give a fuk pal

stay classy

[crustyme]

hamilton should write the family a check for $5 mil. it was his awful toss that killed him afterall.

the announcers should be ashamed for laughing. they knew the stadium well and knew how far he fell. scumbags.

[acarmelo1]

This kind of thing isn't supposed to happen at the ballpark.
But it has.
A man attending a Texas Rangers game with his young son died after falling out of the left-field stands and about 20 feet to the ground Thursday night.
He was trying to catch a ball flipped into the stands by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton(notes) but apparently lost his balance and fell head-first in a space between the 14-foot outfield fence and the grandstand near the Oakland Athletics bullpen.

"We had a very tragic accident tonight and one of our fans lost their life reaching over the rail trying to get a ball," team president Nolan Ryan said. "As an organization, and as our team members and our staff, we're very heavy-hearted about this, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family."

The Brownwood (Texas) Bulletin identified the man as Shannon Stone, a lieutenant in that town's fire department and a fireman for 18 years.
The accident happened in the second inning after Oakland's Conor Jackson(notes) hit a foul ball that bounced back onto the field.
Horrifying TV replays from the Oakland broadcast show Stone positioning himself to catch Hamilton's throw, then tumbling over a railing as his young son watched. A man next to Stone tried to hold onto him, but couldn't.
[Related: Fan's death was an unfair accident]
It's the second fatal fall at a major league ballpark this season. In May, a fan at Coors Field fell down a stairwell and died. Also, last July at Rangers Ballpark, a fan fell 30 feet from the second deck of seats while trying to catch a foul ball and suffered a fractured skull and sprained ankle.
Ryan said Hamilton and the rest of the club were made aware of what happened.

"We spoke to the ballclub, they understood what has happened and we spoke to Josh," Ryan said. "I think as any of us would be, Josh is very distraught over this, as the entire team is."

What must be going through the mind of not only the boy, but also Hamilton? Obviously, what happened wasn't his fault but it would only be human nature to feel guilty. And, as most fans realize, Hamilton is quite human.
The other players were taking it hard as well:

Athletics reliever Brad Ziegler(notes) was in tears after the game when he found out the man had died.

"They had him on a stretcher. He said, 'Please check on my son. My son was up there by himself.' The people who carried him out reassured him. 'Sir, we'll get your son, we'll make sure he's OK,"' Ziegler said. "He had his arms swinging. He talked and was conscious. We assumed he was okay. But when you find out he's not, it's just tough."

This has to be the saddest possible event at a baseball game. A man goes to a ballgame with his son — it's the ultimate American experience — and he dies trying to catch a ball. It's hard to comprehend.
As for the need to raise the railings, or not throw balls into the stands ... that's the crazy part. How many thousands of games happen where nobody gets hurt, and now this?
Video of the fall probably can be found elsewhere on the Internet, but be advised: It is profoundly upsetting.
Maybe more cogent thoughts will come to me in the morning.


From: yahoo news

[thedrifter]

Tragic and sad

[Ice House]

Blaming anyone in this situation is dumb. The Guy was just acting naturally, Hamilton was acting naturally, the announcers certainly did not know the man was harmed. It looked harmless to them. Sometimes shit just happens...we don't have to run out and crucify someone over It. Just so unfortunate. Nets should circle entire ballparks. Shouldn't be able to hit linedrives into crowds of people either.

Biggest shame is That this poor kid was present for it. You don't recover from that.

Good post. I agree. This was nobodys fault. Very very sad and tragic event. Just very unfortunate. They definitely need to put nets up b/c this is very natural reaction for a fan. He didn't mean to fall over the railing his momentum just took him that way. Definitely not Josh Hamiltons fault or anyone elses.

[ROYAJA8]

Dam very sad news for the family. Hopefully they can get through this terrible loss. Now for Hamilton I say he wins MVP this year and gives the trophy to the family.

[solid152]

really really sad wow. feel soo bad for his son who stood there and watched it all unfold.

[Delbert14]

one trick pony, seriously why would you even post something like that, you should be ashamed of yourself and you are a disgrace to this forum and should be banned you sick son of a bitch. i hope you lose every single bet you make until you apologize for being such an idiot.obviosly you have no brain or heart to post anyting like this