There’s a particular charm to going home from a big league game with a brand new (well, used) baseball.
There’s also a particular charm to going home safely.
On the same day as a memorial service was held for the fan who fell to his death trying to catch a ball in Texas, a souvenir seeker narrowly avoided a 20-foot fall of his own at MLB’s Home Run Derby.
Seated in a small section of seats above the right-field fence,
[Keith] Carmickle, of Kingman, and his group had already grabbed home-run balls
by Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez and were looking to add another to their collection when [Prince] Fielder came up in the second round of the derby.
Trying
to snare a towering shot by Fielder, Carmickle stepped up onto a metal
table about 18 inches wide and reached down to catch the ball. It hit a
wall several feet below Carmickle. His momentum carried him forward,
headfirst over a short railing at the back of the table.
Carmickle
was headed for a hard landing when his friend, Aaron Nelson, grabbed
his legs and his brother, Kraig, grabbed him around the arms. Carmickle
dangled briefly over a deck where a couple of cameras were positioned
behind Chase Field’s pool before being pulled back up to his seat as the
crowd above and below gasped.
Seriously: It’s just a ball. If you’re going to hurt yourself going for it, let it go.
(But if you do catch one, make Derek Jeter pay fair market value. It’s only fair.)
