(Reuters) - A fan fell to his death at Rangers Ballpark on Thursday after catching a ball tossed by one of the Texas players.
The man was reaching for a ball thrown by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton during the second inning and toppled over a railing after making the catch.
He fell some 20 feet (6 meters) from the outfield seats to a paved area behind a scoreboard during the Rangers? 6-0 win over the Oakland A?s.
?We are deeply saddened that the man who fell has passed away as a result of this tragic accident,? Rangers President Nolan Ryan said in a statement on the Rangers website.
?Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.?
Replays on Oakland?s television broadcast show the man reaching for the ball and apparently catching it before falling.
The visitor?s bullpen at the stadium is in left-center field. Athletics reliever Brad Ziegler(notes) was in tears after the game when he found out the man had died.
?They had him on a stretcher. He said, ?Please check on my son. My son was up there by himself.? The people who carried him out reassured him. ?Sir, we?ll get your son, we?ll make sure he?s OK,?? Ziegler said. ?He had his arms swinging. He talked and was conscious. We assumed he was okay. But when you find out he?s not, it?s just tough.?
There was an audible gasp in the stands when the man tumbled over the rail, eerily similar to an accident last July when a man fell about 30 feet from the second-deck of seats down the right-field line while trying to catch a foul ball.
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6747510&campaign=rss&source=DALLASHeadlines
The man was reaching for a ball thrown by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton during the second inning and toppled over a railing after making the catch.
He fell some 20 feet (6 meters) from the outfield seats to a paved area behind a scoreboard during the Rangers? 6-0 win over the Oakland A?s.
?We are deeply saddened that the man who fell has passed away as a result of this tragic accident,? Rangers President Nolan Ryan said in a statement on the Rangers website.
?Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.?
Replays on Oakland?s television broadcast show the man reaching for the ball and apparently catching it before falling.
The visitor?s bullpen at the stadium is in left-center field. Athletics reliever Brad Ziegler(notes) was in tears after the game when he found out the man had died.
?They had him on a stretcher. He said, ?Please check on my son. My son was up there by himself.? The people who carried him out reassured him. ?Sir, we?ll get your son, we?ll make sure he?s OK,?? Ziegler said. ?He had his arms swinging. He talked and was conscious. We assumed he was okay. But when you find out he?s not, it?s just tough.?
There was an audible gasp in the stands when the man tumbled over the rail, eerily similar to an accident last July when a man fell about 30 feet from the second-deck of seats down the right-field line while trying to catch a foul ball.
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6747510&campaign=rss&source=DALLASHeadlines

