Nearly two weeks after a fan fell to his death while reaching for a baseball, the Texas Rangers have decided to raise the height of railings at the Ballpark at Arlington. The team announced, "Even though all current rail heights in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington currently exceed code, the Rangers intend to raise the height of all rails in front of seating areas to the highest standard in the United States at this time."
On July 7, firefighter Shannon Stone was reaching for a ball—tossed by outfielder Josh Hamilton— for his 6-year-old son Cooper. But Stone lost his balance when trying to reach for the ball over the railing and tumbled 20 feet onto concrete, with Cooper watching. Since the stadium opened in 1994, there have been two other notable incidents of fans falling, including one from last year. The Rangers said that while the railings are raised, there will be the following safety reminders:
- New signage is being installed on the railings at the base of the aisles and in front of front row seating, which states "DO NOT LEAN, SIT ON, OR STAND AGAINST RAIL". The signage will be on the railings in front of all outfield seating from foul pole to foul pole and on all upper level seating, including the two suite levels.
- A pre-game warning with the same information will be made prior to the start of each game over the Ballpark's public address system and on the scoreboards.
- Security and Customer Service staff will enforce this policy with guests seated near the rails.
In spite of this tragedy, there are still people who risk their lives for baseballs during games.
