By Jarett L. Warner
On Thursday, July 7, 2011, a patron at the Rangers Ballpark fell approximately 20 feet head first onto the concrete below while reaching for a baseball tossed into stands by Texas Rangers’ player Josh Hamilton. The decedent Shannon Stone was a 39-year-old firefighter. He is survived by his wife and his 6 year old son, who was with him at the game and witnessed his father’s accident. Mr. Stone died while being transported to the hospital by ambulance.
The left field wall over which Mr. Stone fell is 14 feet high and the railing is a few feet higher. Stone had been calling out to Josh Hamilton for a foul ball. When Hamilton tossed the ball toward Stone, Stone leaned over, caught the ball and fell down into the gap between the left field railing and wall. Although a nearby patron attempted to grab on to Stone, he was unable to prevent him from falling.
Stone’s accident was eerily similar to others incidents that have occurred at Rangers Ballpark, as well as other baseball stadiums. Almost one year to the day before Stone’s accident, a local fireman fell over a 30 ¼ inch railing at Rangers Ballpark while reaching for a foul ball, landing in the lower deck of the stadium and sustaining skull and ankle fractures. While flipping over he grabbed onto the railing which likely saved his life.
Years earlier, at the first regular season game at Rangers Ballpark in 1994, a female patron posing for a photograph in an area of the stadium known as the Home Run Porch, fell over a railing. She broke her arm, two ribs and sustained neck fractures. Following that incident, the railing in the Home Run Porch area was raised from 30 ¼ inches to 46 inches and warning signs were posted around the stadium.
On April 25, 2010, a patron at Milwaukee’s Miller Park fell 14 feet over a railing onto the hard dirt below, while reaching for a ball during batting practice at a Brewers – Cubs game. The patron died three weeks later from a brain hemorrhage.
Coming on the heels of Stone’s accident, days later on July 12, 2011, a patron at the All Star Game Home Run Derby Contest in Phoenix was spared from tragedy when his brother and friend grabbed him and prevented him from falling to the pool deck area at Chase Field. The patron had reached to grab a home run ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers’ all star first basemen, Prince Fielder.
Following the latest tragic accident at Rangers Ballpark, there appears to be a movement by some professional baseball teams to focus on increased safety at their venues, particularly with regard to the railings.
Although the Texas Rangers noted that the current height of its railings exceed statutory requirements, the club announced that it has consulted with industry experts and that it plans to raise the height of all front row railings “to the highest standard in the United States.” The railings at Rangers Ballpark already exceed Major League Baseball requirements. It was also reported that the Rangers are adding signs near the railings that state “DO NOT LEAN, SIT OR, OR STAND AGAINST RAIL.” The same warnings would be made prior to the game on the public address system and stadium workers would more closely monitor patrons’ behavior near the railings.
The St. Louis Cardinals have also used the tragic event as an opportunity to look at its safety practices at Busch Stadium.
Some patrons also believe that teams should no longer permit their players to toss balls into the seating areas at the end of an inning or during batting practice. However, many others believe that although these incidents are tragic, they are isolated accidents and tossing the ball into the stands is tradition and part of the game.
Either way, it is clear that — given the frequency in which baseballs are hit into the stands and players toss balls to the fans — professional baseball teams should closely examine their stadiums with the intent of making their venues as safe as possible while also avoiding costly and time consuming litigation. The frequent interaction between the players and the patrons makes baseball America’s pastime. This is one way in which professional baseball is remarkably different than any other major professional sport. To maintain this unique aspect of the game and particularly in light of recent events, professional baseball teams should act to safeguard their venues from these types of accidents.
Teams should consider close examination of their front row railings at elevated portions of the stadium to ensure that they are as high as possible, consider posting warning signs, make public address announcements that patrons should not lean or sit on the railings and instruct their security and maintenance staff to particularly monitor patron behavior in this regard. Teams and Major League Baseball should also consider instructing their players to at the very least take extreme caution when tossing baseballs into the stands and to refrain from tossing or throwing balls to patrons from a far distance or to patrons who are sitting in the first few rows of an elevated area.
Jarett L. Warner is Counsel at Havkins Rosenfeld Ritzert & Varriale. He concentrates his practice in defending sports and recreational venues and operators, construction companies and premises owners and managers in personal injury actions. He can be reached at jarett.warner@hrrvlaw.com
