Shannon Stone's widow worried for son

ESPNDallas.com ^ | July 8, 2011

[ConservativeStatement]

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan says he spoke by telephone with the widow of the firefighter who died after a fall at Thursday night's game.

He says Jenny Stone told him that "she's very concerned about her son and the impact that this is having on him."

Shannon Stone, 39, fell over a railing in left field during Thursday night's game in Arlington, Texas, as he reached for a foul ball tossed to him by outfielder Josh Hamilton. Stone was at the game with his 6-year-old son, Cooper.

Jenny Stone, through Ryan, asked that the news media stop showing videos of the incident out of respect for her son. ESPN and MLB.com are honoring the request and have not posted video of the accident.

[Baynative]

This is so sad. A great father and community member taken at such a young age...I can't imagine the anguish this family is going through.

Oh Lord, please care for them and grant them comfort.

[NonValueAdded]

A fund has been started, anyone have details?

[eddie willers]

On a much lesser scale, I also feel for the outfielder who threw the ball a few inches too short.

A foul ball is one thing...one you deliberately threw is another.

[MadelineZapeezda]

Poor Cooper, he’ll have that scene embedded into his head forever. I hope maybe he didn’t see it happen, maybe he looked the other way like a preoccupied kid might do.

[ConservativeStatement]

Try this:

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110708&content_id=21592116&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex

[who knows what evil?]

There is a link to the Memorial Account in the text of the article...

[ConservativeStatement]

I remember in the early 80s when the Reds instituted a policy whereby players would be fined if they threw balls in the stands. The exec (Dick Wagner) who created the policy was ridiculed. It's a freak event. I hope for the best.

[FortWorthPatriot]

Found this on Facebook: Shannon Stone Memorial Fund

[vetvetdoug]

My prayers for the family. In ten years this boy will be a part of the Brownwood Lions and his father in heaven will watch him play sports.

[Dawgreg]

I pray for God’s arms of comfort around Jenny and Cooper. Their pain must be unbearable. :(

[Sporke]

Yeah, Josh Hamilton has to feel horrible. He said it was part of Gods’ plan, which is it, but you know he’ll have that in his memory from now on.

He did decide to play tonight, and thus far he is 1 for 4 with a run scored, which is good. :)

[ponygirl]

Yeah and that player was Josh Hamilton... who is always just a few inches from total meltdown anyway.

[momtothree]

Prayers for the Mother and her little boy. I hope she has very close and supportive family to help her during this difficult time. I also hope she seeks out spiritual help. My siblings and I lost our Dad when we were pretty young. I can say from experience that this little boy’s life will be quite rough for some time. It never fully heals but hopefully with time... he can live a life that would have made his Daddy proud.

[A_Former_Democrat]

I have heard Josh Hamilton’s story and it is incredibly moving. If there is one player who can deal with this tragedy and move forward, it is him.

[healy61]

You have added nothing intelligent, kind or considerate here.

[newzjunkey]

Freak event or not, it happened because of a deliberate act by a player enticing a spectator into a precarious position leading to his death.

Now a boy has no father and will suffer the memory for the rest of his life.

At a *minimum* a policy like you describe should be instituted.

[eddie willers]

He did decide to play tonight, and thus far he is 1 for 4 with a run scored, which is good

There have been players who have been ruined by similar events.

As a Braves fan, I worried this year during Spring Training as Brian McCann hit a foul ball into his own dugout that hit the new manager of their Class A Lynchburg squad, Luis Salazar, so sharply in the head that they feared he was dead.

He was hit so hard and was unconscious so completely that he broke his arm just dead-falling to the ground. Doctors also had to remove the eye that had been crushed on impact.

The good news is that through his determination, he made it to his team's opening day and All-Star Brian McCann is having his best year ever.

Just shows you never can tell.....