Baseball fan almost replays fatal fall
Other fans catch Keith Carmickle as he tumbles over a wall Monday night during the Home Run Derby at Chase Field in Phoenix.
July 12th, 2011
01:47 PM ET

Baseball fan almost replays fatal fall

On the day a memorial service was held in Texas for a baseball fan who suffered fatal injuries while reaching for a ball, a man at Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby nearly took a similar fall.

During the contest at Chase Field in Phoenix, Keith Carmickle of Kingman, Arizona, stepped on a small table and reached over a railing for a ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers star Prince Fielder, AZCentral.com reported.

Carmickle lost his balance and tumbled over the railing head first. His brother, Kraig Carmickle, a friend, Aaron Nelson, and a couple of other men caught him by his limbs, saving him from an estimated 20-foot fall to the stadium's pool deck, according to the site.

"He tried to catch it. I grabbed his legs and his brother grabbed his arms," Nelson told AZCentral. "So when he went over the ledge, we pulled him back. He wasn't going down. I was holding on."

Watch ESPN video of the near-fall from CNN affiliate KPHO-TV

On a different batted ball, another fan leapt and landed in the stadium's pool with a big splash - and with the ball. He jumped around exultantly in the water, apparently unhurt.

Firefighter Shannon Stone fell to his death in front of his young son Thursday at a Texas Rangers game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Stone fell while reaching over a rail for a ball tossed into the stands by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. Stone was buried Monday in his hometown of Brownwood, Texas.

Hamilton will play in Tuesday night's All-Star Game in Phoenix but did not participate in the Home Run Derby.

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Filed under: Arizona • Baseball • Sports • Texas
soundoff (410 Responses)
  1. charmedaz

    Stop making people famous for being idiots. And "World"...please stop revolving around and changing because of idiots that can't control themselves or have any kind of common sense.

    July 12, 2011 at 11:03 pm | Report abuse |
  2. DHOdho

    I think the baseball stadiums should install catch netting on the upper decks,similar to those on aircraft carriers and on some bridges so incidents like previous (and tragic) ones won't happen again. Just something that would let a ball fall through,but not a person.

    If NASCAR can make the race track owners install soft walls, MLB can do the same with the ball park owners & catch nets.

    July 12, 2011 at 11:07 pm | Report abuse |
    • gam gam

      And when the net fails that ONE time....LAWSUIT and more knee jerk reactions. If people acted safely it wouldn't be a problem.

      July 12, 2011 at 11:35 pm | Report abuse |
  3. BUFFALO

    Does watching baseball make you stupid or are you already stupid for watching this boring game?

    July 12, 2011 at 11:22 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Pinetree

    People, this is an era of 'headline discovery'. If you play a part that can be talked about, you MIGHT be qualified for publicity, fame, even big bucks. This character is probably a well trainer stunt who knows where and how if he would fall. Just taking advantage of a recent unfortunate event. How cheap and distasteful!

    July 12, 2011 at 11:33 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Questioning

    Major League Stadiums should call the new barriers they will be forced to erect Lemming barriers; they keep these morons from just jumping off the edge.

    July 12, 2011 at 11:43 pm | Report abuse |
  6. SuCon

    MORON

    July 13, 2011 at 12:13 am | Report abuse |
  7. Turtle Soup

    FAKE!

    July 13, 2011 at 12:28 am | Report abuse |
  8. jdoe

    There's a logical explanation for this. Americans are getting more overweight or obese. That makes them top heavy and more prone to flip over if they lean too far. Expect more incidents like this at the ball game.

    July 13, 2011 at 12:28 am | Report abuse |
  9. Jim

    Staged... He's obviously planking...

    July 13, 2011 at 12:33 am | Report abuse |
  10. Kourtnie

    To all of those saying this was staged because the men are holding the man in strategic places–if you reference the article (i.e. actually read it) you will infer that the men holding him placed their hands on him before he reached for the ball because of last week's accident. I understood his friend's comment to mean that, as the ball was coming towards him, he decided to catch it and his friends braced him so that, if he were to fall, he would be supported. All in all, I applaud him for his foresight (or hindsight, in a way) and planning. Although it did get him a bit of fame, it was probably just him making sure he didn't fall to his death when he could prevent it.

    July 13, 2011 at 12:51 am | Report abuse |
    • dennis

      agree...

      July 13, 2011 at 1:36 am | Report abuse |
    • Specter

      Natural selection at work. They should have let the fat azz fall

      July 13, 2011 at 5:53 am | Report abuse |
    • Culturestone

      The video does not support your inference. He was stupid and lucky. He stepped up on the table as the ball was coming toward him–not smart for a big fat guy–and his friends could see he was going down. They grabbed him. Didn't look staged, and it would have been awfully dumb of all of them to assume they could catch him. Probably couldn't happen again if they tried.

      July 13, 2011 at 6:00 am | Report abuse |
  11. shankar

    This is an orchestrated fall. Look carefully. Two guys were already holding his leg and arm, before he launches himself. Publicity stunt. Unbelievable that a reputed news channel like CNN would show this at all on their website. CNN, stick to news reporting. Do not "make news". Learn from BBC.

    July 13, 2011 at 12:56 am | Report abuse |
    • JD

      So its a publicity stunt talking place after the death of a man from the same cause? this is what your saying right?....just think for a minute at how foolish you sound...

      July 13, 2011 at 5:05 am | Report abuse |
  12. Ruedew

    I'm not sure what a ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers star Prince Fielder is going for on the open market, but I don't think it would cover his medical bills.

    July 13, 2011 at 1:15 am | Report abuse |
  13. Dennis

    Sports should be relegated to small local events. Look at how clownish these people are. Disgusting.

    July 13, 2011 at 1:20 am | Report abuse |
  14. brown

    Phat phuck, keep ya azz in ya seat!

    July 13, 2011 at 1:31 am | Report abuse |
  15. seriously?

    Standing on a table???... leaning over a balcony railing reaching for a ball???

    What an idiot. The man in Texas that passed away was a freak accident, but this is just a complete idiot. Maybe he should have been Darwin'd out of the gene pool.

    July 13, 2011 at 2:25 am | Report abuse |
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