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.
Anyone carrying a baseball glove to watch the game should be required to have a safety lanyard. New OSHA requirement :)...
Why there aren't "catch nets" to prevent a 20 ft. fall, is beyond me. Make it a rule, go into the net, go home, period. Not doing so should carry some sort of liability. Can be easily installed.
Wonder how much he got paid for that photograph?
Or, ummm, maybe just sit in your seat and/or resist the urge to jeopardize your life going after a $10 baseball?
That's actually a good idea. A minimum 3/8" steel cable, no longer than 10' long, secured to the glove and a snap-ring affixed to the seat. If you fall over, you might get your wrist/shoulder dislocated, but you won't die. It gives the ballpark plausible-deniability for safety precautions (if you don't attach your cable when in your seat, shame on you). Work on that.
Am quite disappointed with those meddling do-gooders. Next time, let the dolt fall.
I watched that tape. This looks staged. The guy went over before the ball even got close.
I agree....Plus everyone around him sure was ready to "catch" him....
Definitely.
Baseball fans have always been sports snobs. They say baseball isn't boring but a game for the intellectual/thinking fan – right up until they chase a ball over a 20foot ledge like a brainless golden retriever that is.
How dare you sir.....Putting golden retrievers on the same low level as baseball players or their fans!!!!
Second that, DEADINSIDE.
hahaha,
I am a baseball fan and should be offended by your comment, but that's one funny comment! 🙂
All sports are stupid. Just primitive macho nonsense. Only people with low IQs enjoy them. You only need to look at fans like this moron to see that. They should have let him fall, it would have increased the average IQ of the human race by a tiny fraction.
Stupid is, stupid does.
All for a stupid ball. How lame can one be! He's very lucky he had a couple friends there. He doesn't look like a think guy. All the stadiums need to fix the railing on all upper levels for the front rows except for ground level. They need to drop the floor about 2 ft and increase the height of the rails about a foot or so. This way when a person is walking or trying to catch a ball in the front their upper chest will make contact with the railing and will prevent them from flipping! For a quick fix they need to put up netting. This is all stadiums. Why these builders didn't do this crap years ago is plain old stupid. They should also put fine netting along the first and third base sidelines so that when a ball or bat comes into the crowd it is caught by the netting and nobody gets creamed or killed. It only takes a second to be looking somewhere else when that ball hits you in the face or chest. Needed especially for small kids.
Another idiot almost dies for a ball that you can get for $8.00. Americans are becoming more foolish every second.
What a stupid, ignorant comment!
Did you see the pics from the back??? This slob was standing on a table which put the rails at his ankles – alcohol may have been a contributing factor
the world can squeeze by with out this idiot
well said i don't c how these people keep falling been going to ball games and reaching over rails for years
which one?
What comment? You're stupid and ignorant for not using the "reply" feature.
All for a baseball....how dumb.
That whole thing is staged....and they are all d0uche bags.
This whole thing was staged. Him and all of his friends. Those that don't think so only need to watch the video and look closely.
Wow. Race doesn't matter in how you act at a sporting event.
Sorry, i do notice cultural differences...
How many black fans attend games as shirtless body painted with team logos and colors and holler at the moon(act crazy!)....it's great for the game...but that kind of team spirit is hard to find among the brothers.
baseball isnt for blacks for the most part...mainly mexicans, peutro ricans and whites. Just like hockey is for whites and football (except QB) and basketball is for blacks too.
Now that's not true...you need to review american history mr. racist.
What a pinhead, you need spell check? LOL
Are you kidding me? All the shirtless black guys are hootin and hollerin back at home on their porch. At least the guys at a baseball game have a goal with their actions...
Lol, I love the way u say that dude. I kinda like tried to picture a black dude gettin all amped up at a sports game and i just cant do it lol. Well played sir.
He's planking !!!!!
Look at the pic his shoes are off! He was above the parks pool. They did it to get on TV knowing if he fell he would land in the pool and be fine! If you watch the video he extends his arm for the ball AFTER he goes over, basic instinct is to grab for something to stop your fall not reach out for a ball! This is all fake.
@ryan:
What?! Basefall fans have always been sports snobs?
What kind of blanket statement is *that*?
*Facepalm*™©
lighten up, whether they're funny or not most jokes involve a generality.