One MLB fan died at a baseball game because of
a foul ball on July 6, 2010.
And this year, in May, a 27-year-old man died after he fell about 20 feet and struck his head on concrete during a Colorado Rockies game. Witnesses told police that the man had been trying to slide down a staircase railing at Coors Field and lost his balance.
Tragedy at the ballpark struck again yesterday when Josh Hamilton grabbed a foul ball and tossed it into the stands much like he always does. Unfortunately, 39-year-old firefighter Shannon Stone caught the ball but tumbled over a railing and plunged 20 feet onto concrete below, right in front of his 6-year-old son. Stone died in the hospital a short time later.
It’s time for Major League Baseball to seriously consider what can be done to prevent this type of tragedy from happening in the future. Most parks don’t like to make the railings too high for fear of obstructing fans views, but people are dying.
Personally, I’ve always felt that seat belts or straps for people sitting close to railings would be the best practice. That way, they can stay strapped in and still reach for the coveted foul ball or homerun without flying out of their seats to their deathbeds.
If baseball keeps this mortality rate up it will start rival soccer.
