Earlier this year, Shannon Stone, a 39-year-old firefighter, leaned over the rail to catch a foul ball that was thrown to him by Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. Stone slipped and fell to his death . After the incident several people called on the the MLB to ban players from throwing balls into the stands, but Stone’s mother, SuZann Stone, wasn’t one of them.
SuZan recently told New York Times Magazine that it is very important for MLB players like Josh Hamilton to keep throwing up balls into the stands. Stone, who expressed her sentiments in a letter to Hamilton, told the Magazine:
“I wrote to Josh Hamilton, and I said: ‘Please, don’t stop throwing those balls. Because that’s so important. That’s why daddies bring their little boys to the ballgame is for memories like that. Please don’t stop.’”
SuZan also related a story about how Shannon’s father had once caught a foul ball from Shannon’s childhood hero, Buddy Bell. SuZan said that it was her son’s prized possession and that Shannon eventually passed the ball down to his own son, Cooper.
Shannon’s father Al, said:
“Getting a ball is kind of like the holy grail of baseball. It’s one of the reasons you go, is hoping to get a souvenir of the game, a ball.”
SuZan added:
“That’s why they sat there, hoping to catch a foul ball.”
SuZan Stone lost her son because he tried to catch a ball at a baseball game, but Stone recognizes the fact that Shannon’s death was a freak occurrence.
Do you agree with SuZan Stone? Should Josh Hamilton and the rest of the MLB continue to throw baseballs into the stands?
