July 7th 2011

I just heard on the news the story about the Texas Ranger fan who was trying to catch a foul ball for his son, when he fell over the railing and was killed. Wow. How can something like this happen? My heart goes out to his family, especially his son who was with him at the time of the accident. What can you say to this boy that will make things better? There’s not much you can say. He will have years of issues over this. The bottom line is he no longer has a father who will be there for him as he grows up. And all of this was over a baseball. That’s just one of the tragedies in this story.

            For years I have thought that trying to catch foul balls was OK. I never dreamed that something like this would happen. I take my own son to the Springfield Cardinals games all the time. We stay in the outfield so we can catch balls. It’s almost a rite of passage between a father and a son. I don’t think I can ever look at it the same way again. I’m sure that the players in the minors and majors will be thinking twice about tossing a ball up to the stands as well.

            This just makes me think even more that you never know when your number will be called. It can happen at anytime, anyplace, anywhere. And like this gentleman, when you least expect it. I just hope his boy will be able to understand all of this one day. He is the one I am most concerned about. To have that image in your mind, I can’t even begin to understand what may be going through his mind at this time. I am praying for this family as we speak.