A day after a fan fell to his death at Rangers Ballpark while trying to catch a ball thrown from outfielder Josh Hamilton, questions remain about safety at the Arlington, Texas stadium. This is the third incident of a fan falling there since 1994. When the stadium first opened, the NY Times reports, "While posing for a picture in a section of seats known as Home Run Porch, [Hollye Minter] toppled over the railing. She fell 35 feet, fracturing several vertebrae, ribs and teeth. The Ranger organization promptly raised the height of the railings in that section of the upper deck."
Just last year, another Rangers fan fell from a different part of the stadium and suffered similar injuries. Minter said at the time, "Maybe this happened to me so they would raise the rails in Home Run Porch. Maybe this gentleman fell so that the Rangers will now really open their eyes and raise the rails everywhere else, because next time — and I hate to say this — somebody’s going to die." So yesterday, Minter was shocked, "Someone said to me, ‘Well, it should get their attention now.’ I said, ‘No, we had their attention in ’94 and we had their attention last year.’ We got their attention again. I don’t know what it’s going to take. Maybe if they had made changes last year, that little boy would still have a father. That’s what’s so tough for me. I have two kids. That little boy, could he ever go to a baseball game again?"
However, the Texas Rangers organization said they were making no changes to railing heights or banning players from throwing balls to fans after the Thursday death of Shannon Stone, a 39-year-old firefighter. Stone had attended the game with his 6-year-old son, Cooper, and had apparently hoped to catch a ball for him. Hamilton says that after he had thrown a foul ball to a ball girl, he heard a voice say, "Hamilton, how about the next one?" and saw the boy and his father, "It looked like somebody that would love to have a baseball."
So when another foul ball came his way, Hamilton threw it their way. But Stone lost his balance when trying to reach for the ball over the railing and tumbled 20 feet onto concrete—with Cooper watching. Hamilton said, "Hearing the little boy screaming for his daddy after he had fallen and then being home with my kids really hit home last night. It's definitely on my mind and in my heart. I can't stop thinking about that little boy and his family."
Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan said he spoke to Stone's family and his widow, Jenny, was most concerned about video of the incident being played, "She's very concerned about her son and the impact this is having on him and rightfully so. She asked me if I could do anything about the video footage being shown by the news media. I told her I would do what I could." The Rangers has set up memorial fund for Stone's family and Ryan says they will make a substantial donation.
Former Yankees left fielder Johnny Damon told the Daily News, "Major League Baseball tried telling us years ago to not give balls to fans, but that's part of the cool thing of going to a game, if you get a ball thrown to you. It's such a tough and unfortunate thing. I really don't know what you do." Right fielder Nick Swisher, "Never in a million years did it even cross my mind that when I grab a ball and flip it in the stands that something like that would happen. I am a guy who every time I get a ball, I hand it out. I think it's a cool souvenir for the fans to take home. Now, I think I have to be a little more cautious."
Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson added that the scrum for foul balls is intense, "I've seen people fall out of their seats, get hit in the head hard. I've seen people get mad over foul balls. "I've seen grown adults take away balls from kids - they reach up and snag it. And then they high-five their buddies next to them because they got it versus a kid getting it. It's pretty amazing what people will do for a $5 ball."
