We've been to countless (somewhere in the hundreds, for sure) baseball games in our life. The thing we still want desperately to do: catch a baseball in the stands. It doesn't matter if it's a home run ball, a foul ball or a soft toss into the stands from a player. Upon leaving a St. Paul Saints game before it was over a few years ago, we were nearly hit by a foul ball that came straight back and high out of the stadium into the street. We ran to chase it down, and until further notice we are counting that as the only ball we've ever gotten at a baseball game (most people refute this claim. Truth be told, we're pretty sure it doesn't count, either). That said, we are fairly grounded in a simple fact: Getting a baseball at a game is not worth risking your life. We state this obvious fact with two recent incidents in mind: The tragic death of Shannon Stone, the 39-year-old who was at a Texas Rangers game last week when he fell to his death trying to grab a soft toss from Josh Hamilton. That was a freak accident, and one we're having a hard time shaking. Everything about it seemed perfectly innocent when you watch the horrific video, up until the point Stone loses his balance and ... really, it's just sickening to watch and to think about.
But having been at a game in Yankee Stadium several years back during which a fan fell into the netting behind home plate ... and having been at plenty of parks and thinking "wow, the railing is kind of low here," we know there are some hidden perils at baseball games. Combine a few beverages with a zeal to get a ball, and you have a strangely dangerous recipe.
Perhaps that's what transpired last night at the Home Run Derby. On the same day as an emotional funeral for Stone, another fan almost plummeted 20 feet to near-certain danger -- and possibly another tragic death. This time, though, it was not quite as innocent. Photos show fan Keith Carmickle standing on a platform reserved for food and drinks waiting to catch another home run ball during the derby. That platform appeared to be no more than six inches from the top of the railing. From the AP story:
Trying to snare a towering shot by Prince Fielder, Carmickle stepped up onto a metal table about 18 inches wide and reached down to catch the ball. It hit a wall several feet below Carmickle. His momentum carried him forward, headfirst over a short railing at the back of the table.
Carmickle was headed for a hard landing when his friend, Aaron Nelson, grabbed his legs and his brother, Kraig, grabbed him around the arms. Carmickle dangled briefly over a deck where a couple of cameras were positioned behind Chase Field's pool before being pulled back up to his seat as the crowd above and below gasped.
To reiterate, folks: Even if you want a baseball at a game more than anything, it is not worth your life.
