I will first start this story by expressing my deepest sympathy for the families of two men who lost their lives recently in escalator deaths. My prayers go out to you and your friends and family.
Last night in Atlanta, another fan fell to his death when horseplaying on an escalator. This is the second accident this season that happened in a Major League Baseball stadium. Tuesday, April 15th, a Brooklyn man fell to his death after watching his beloved Mets win 6-0.
Witnesses said they saw the man attempting to slide down the side of an escalator in an attempt to have a little "fun." The man was attending the game with his relatives and two daughters. This was the first time someone died at Shea Stadium since 1985, when a 21-year-old male fell to his death in a similar situation.
Now let's fast forward to last night.
The Atlanta Braves were hosting the Mets in a four-game series. After the third win in a row, the unspeakable happened again—a 25-year-old man died after an incident involving falling off an escalator.
An Atlanta Police spokesman addressed the situation and said the male may have been sliding down the rail and alcohol may have been involved. They will do an autopsy to confirm the alcohol accusation.
Two deaths in two months?
Something has to be put in place around Major League Baseball Stadiums—stat. I live in the NYC borough of Queens and attend MLB games quite frequently. You don't want to know the number of times I have seen intoxicated fans sliding down rails after wins in celebration or after losses when they have consoled themselves with Brooklyn Lager.
Most recently, I attended the Mets-Nationals game Tuesday, May 13. The Mets played a good game and won 6-3.
I was sitting with a friend who has season tickets and we stayed until the end. We were walking out with the crowds and, as I was descending down the final two escalators, I saw three fans in their mid-twenties, who smelled of beer, attempting to slide down the railing of the escalator.
Remember, this is the same stadium where the fan fell to his death a couple weeks earlier and was all over the news and the papers. I attempted to let the morons know what I thought, but they laughed it off and even shot back at me.
What do pro stadiums need to do to prevent these kind of situations from happening again? When you mix alcohol, friends, and sports rivalries, stuff like this is bound to happen.
Again, my sympathy goes out to the families of these two men and to the adults and kids who observed the falls.
Here's to safety at pro sports events...
3 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Chad Haynie about 1 year ago
From 2005-2007 I worked for the Braves and young guys and even some girls slid down the handrails quite a bit, especially after a big win or just after they have had a lot to drink and sometimes both.
I do want to point out, at Turner Field we shut down the Escalators in after the 7th inning and they never run down, only up. This is specifically to prevent such tragic accidents. Sadly to be quite honest, I don't think there is a whole lot that can be done about this. Common Sense has to take over for someone, at some point. There is no realistic way to guard every stairwell in the park on every level.
There are a number of safety precaution at Turner Field and is one of the top priorities of the staff.
Hopefully these two incidents will be the only two and people will learn not to horse around at a ballpark.
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Morgan Carter about 1 year ago
They really don't need to do anything except discourage what the fans are doing. I am not an expert in escalator safety, but the easiest and best solution is for people to be more careful. Some people make dumb choices. It should be obvious to people that it is not safe to slide down an escalator.
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kyle McClamma about 1 year ago
I think that all the fans that drink should get field level seats!!!!
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