SMH! TEXAS MAN FALLS TO HIS DEATH TRYING TO CATCH A BASEBALL!

A veteran Texas firefighter plunged headfirst to his death from the stands at Rangers Ballpark while trying to snare a baseball tossed by American League MVP Josh Hamilton.
The man's fatal fall was watched by a horrified crowd of 35,041 - including his young son - after a failed bid by another fan to rescue the tumbling Shannon Stone, 39.

"He went straight down," said fan Ronnie Hargis, who was sitting alongside Stone at the game against the Oakland A's. "I tried to grab him, but I couldn't. I tried to slow him down a little bit."

Stone, an 18-year veteran firefighter from Brownwood, Texas, went into full cardiac arrest in the ambulance rushing him to the hospital after his 20-foot fall in the second inning.

The crowd gasped as he tumbled over the left-field railing from his front-row seat.

The bleeding Stone was still conscious after landing, and Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler said the man kept asking about his little boy as he was brought out of the ballpark on a stretcher.

"He said, 'Please check on my son. My son was up there by himself,'" a weeping Ziegler said when told after the game that Stone had died.

"We assumed he was OK," Ziegler said. "But when you find out he's not, it's just tough."

It might be toughest on Hamilton, who overcame drug and alcohol addictions to emerge as a devout Christian and an All-Star outfielder.

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

The Rangers were considering whether to let Hamilton skip Friday night's game with Oakland.

Hamilton was playing left field when a foul ball ricocheted toward him. A witness said Stone was shouting for Hamilton to toss him the baseball, and the fan-friendly player obliged.

Television replays showed Stone apparently making the grab before losing his balance and falling. He landed behind a wall that supports a video screen, preventing fans from seeing him hit the ground.

It was the second fatal fall at a major league baseball game this year, coming two months after a fan fell to his death while trying to slide down a staircase railing at Coors Field.

One year ago, a fan at Rangers Ballpark survived a 30-foot fall while trying to catch a foul ball.

SOURCE