Even on a good day, the mindless chatter from baseball announcers can force me to hit the mute button just to get through a game. But the day Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton tossed a foul ball to an eager fan was nowhere close to a good one. And listening to a pair of announcers chuckle at Shannon Stone, as the fan lay dying in Rangers Ballpark, his pint-sized son watching in horror, makes my insides curdle.
Stone was just a dad at a game with his kid when he saw a chance to get a souvenir. Thanks to the kindness of Hamilton, he saw a foul ball coming his way, and he reached out over the outfield railing to catch it. And then he fell, tumbling 20 feet onto solid concrete. While his son was watching. While the announcers ragged on him for trying to make it onto the JumboTron.
Take a listen, but be aware, this video may be hard to watch. While you don't see Shannon Stone hitting the pavement, you know that it is a man falling to his death:
Perhaps it's just in hindsight that it comes across as crass. I'm going to wager a guess they didn't know Stone was dying. But pretend you don't know a man died and take a look at that little boy's face as he sees his dad falling out of the stands. Could you laugh? Me neither. They knew he fell. They knew it was dangerous. They knew he had to be hurt at the very least. And they chuckled.
That's the trouble with the jibber jabbing in the announcers' box at your standard game. They're trying to fill airtime, and in a slow-moving game like baseball, there's a lot of it to be filled. A few stints guest-hosting on a local radio show proved to me it's a job I couldn't do, to keep up the chatter and keep it intelligent. But the fact is, that's their job. They get paid a decent salary to keep talking, and they need to be connecting their brain to their mouth as they do it. A little common sense goes a long way ... when you see a man fall 20 feet, you don't laugh. It's crass.
Did the announcers make you cringe or would you give them the benefit of the doubt?
Image via YouTube
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
This Hot Dad Cooks AND Does the Dishes
Kanye West is Gay?! 
Comments 65
I agree. He probably didn't think the guy was gonna die. That sure is sad :(
I would give them the benefit of the doubt. As you say, they didn't know what that fate of dad was going to be.. but omg... that poor boy... my heart hurts for him. It just doesn't get worse than that.
looking at the video, if you hadn't TOLD me that he died, i wouldn't of thought he would of died and I prolly would of laughed at it too. This is really sad and hindsight is 2020.
I have to say i'd give them the benifit of the doubt. watching the video made it seem they didnt know that man had died. my heart goes out to his family.
Watching the vidoe they did nothing wrong they just did what everyone would do hearing about fan falling they would laugh but they did say I hope the fan is ok. But I'm sure once they did hear he had died they said they were sorry.
I wouldn't have thought he was even hurt. It looked to me like he fell into a relatively shallow walkway along the front. Also, the little boy didn't look terrified or even all that upset. I'll give the announcers the benefit of the doubt, too.
I'd give them the benifit of the doubt, too. They do say that they hope the guy is ok, which makes me think that they had no idea that he had died.