Josh Hamilton Is Not Going to Stop Throwing Balls into the Stands

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Despite the fact it was something of an AL West showdown, Thursday night's contest between the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics at the Ballpark in Arlington quickly became a moot point.

In the second inning, a foul ball off the bat of Conor Jackson ricocheted off the left field wall and went straight to Rangers left fielder Josh Hamilton. He collected it and tossed it to a fan sitting above the left field wall, only to watch the fan topple over the railing and fall 20 feet to the ground behind the out-of-town scoreboard.

The fan, 39-year-old firefighter Shannon Stone, died a short while later.

The incident is still less than 24 hours old at this point, and the prayers and thoughts for the Stone family are still pouring out from baseball fans all over the country. An equal amount of these thoughts and prayers are going to Hamilton, who everyone agrees did absolutely nothing wrong.

Nevertheless, many have questioned whether or not this tragic accident would convince Major League Baseball to discourage players from throwing foul balls and the like to fans in the stands. They very well could, but Hamilton himself told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he is still going to throw balls to fans if and when the occasion arises.

Said Hamilton:

Of course. That's what the game's all about. The fans come. They pay to see you play. They want to have a good experience at the ballpark. With player interaction, that's part of a good experience. Like I said before, it will be something, situations you'll look carefully where the fans are, how high they are up, what's the railing like.

Hamilton says he "rarely" throws balls to fans in the first place because the game is slowed down if they drop them. Because of Thursday night's incident, though, he did hint that he will "definitely take more precautions" when throwing balls into the stands.

As for what triggered Hamilton to throw the ball to Stone, he said he targeted him because he wanted Stone's six-year-old son, Cooper, to get a ball:

Yeah, when I glanced up there, like I said, the first person I saw was the dad and the boy. It looked like somebody who would love to have a baseball. They were the first ones I saw. When I got it, I found them again and threw it in that direction. If the same situation came up and this hadn't happened, I'd do it again.

When Hamilton saw catch the ball and then tumble, he said it "happened in slow motion."

"Obviously at soon as it happened, I couldn't help but think about what was happening behind that fence," said Hamilton.

Hamilton says he does plan on reaching out to Stone's family, but he wants to give the situation a little time. As for himself, he is in the lineup for tonight's game against the A's, batting third and playing left field.

"There's nothing I can do by not playing," he said.

According to the USA Today, the Ballpark in Arlington passed a safety inspection on Friday. Rangers president Nolan Ryan says the team is planning on setting up a memorial fund for Stone's family.

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