DYING FOR BASEBALL

The two images above are both baseballs. The one on the left is a generic brand, typical of what you played with as a kid in the neighborhood, or at Little League, or even at school. 10 for $1 in the bin at the local sporting goods store. The ball on the right is an official ball used by Major League Baseball. That's the ball the pros use - the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Cubs, and yes, even the Astros. These balls are a little pricier at the ol sporting goods store - about $10 for one.

Here is an image of the same 2 balls (not necessarily in the same order as above) where the labels don't show. Looks pretty much the same, right? That's because they're BASEBALLS!!! That's what baseballs look like. ALL OF THEM! And they are something that about every single one of us has owned, if not dozens of them, in our lifetime. And yet people lose their freaking minds trying to get their hands on one of these balls.

I wrote a blog about a year ago "I Got It, I Got It" about a fan flipping over the railing of the 2nd deck at a Texas Rangers baseball game and landing on the people 30 feet below in the lower deck. Why? Because he was trying like hell to catch a foul ball. The fan could have died and taken someone with him for a $10 baseball. Fortunately then, no one died.

Here's a video of a woman ripping a baseball right out of a little girl's hands.....and is freaking proud of it - turning to her friends and high-fiving.

It's just unbelievable the mentality people have. IT'S A BASEBALL!!!!!!

In my blog last year, I mention how there is fan interference all the time. You pay good money for those front row seats right on the field, $40, $45 or more for one ticket. Bring a family of four and that's $160 to $180 easy just on tickets. And that's not including all the $9 beers, $6 sodas, $5 peanuts, $7 hotdogs, $5 cotton candy, that you bought. Then you interfere with a ball in play 'cause you just got to have that $10 baseball - A BASEBALL - and you get kicked out of the game. Even worse when you interfere and don't get the ball.

Well, last Thursday night at the same stadium where the man fell from the 2nd deck last year, Rangers Stadium in Arlington, the man you see in the picture above, flips over the railing trying to catch a baseball that was tossed to him by Rangers centerfielder Josh Hamilton. He continues falling head first, between the railing and the wall in front of him, about 20 feet, hitting his head on the concrete ground. He didn't die immediately, but did later. The little boy in red, behind the man's legs, is his son. It was just the man and son at the game.

Here's the video if you want to see it. VIDEO
It doesn't show much more than what you see in the picture above. They show it at about the 58 second mark.

Very, very, sad story. A little boy now gets to grow up without a father because of a $10 baseball. Sure, accidents happen, but come on man, it's a baseball! We don't have to risk our lives for these things. I've got about a dozen of them right now. If you need one that bad, just let me know.