BUNDY COLUMN: A lesson to be learned from baseball death

A man should never leave this world the way Shannon Stone did.

With his 6-year-old son, Cooper, by his side at a Texas Rangers game on Thursday, Stone lunged in front of another fan for a baseball tossed over the left-field wall toward the stands by Josh Hamilton.

Stone, a 6-foot-3 firefighter, made the catch, lost his balance and tumbled headfirst over the railing to the ground 20 feet below.

In the ambulance en route to the hospital, with Cooper riding in the front seat, Stone went into full cardiac arrest and died. He was 39.

For a $6 sphere made of rubber, cork, yarn and hide, a man lost his life. And a 6-year-old must now grow up without his dad.

It’s a tragedy so very sad on so many levels. And a tragedy – like most – that was avoidable.

What is it about a baseball fouled off a bat, belted over a fence or thrown into the stands that makes fans pursue it with reckless abandon? I honestly don’t know.

Since I was a toddler, I’ve been obsessed with the game of baseball. But I’ve never been hell-bent on leaving a ballpark with a ball.

TV cameras won’t catch me kayaking for home run balls in McCovey Cove in San Francisco Bay beyond the right field wall at AT&T Park.

I won’t be in the ball-hawking crowds on Waveland Avenue and Sheffield Avenue beyond the outfield wall at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

You won’t catch me sprinting down a concourse for a foul ball. You won’t see me spill a beverage for one, push people out of the way for one, climb over people for one or – as I saw during a Dodgers’ game last month – literally drop my kid for one.

Orioles and Cubs fans will never have to worry about me interfering with the game the way Jeffrey Maier did during the 1996 American League Championship Series and Steve Bartman did during the 2003 National League Championship Series.

A baseball isn’t the allure for me. The game is my drug. And the scorecard is my souvenir.

Lost in the headlines of Thursday’s tragedy was a four-hit shutout tossed by Texas’ left-hander Derrick Holland. In a 6-0 win over the Oakland Athletics, he walked two and struck out seven.

Had I been at the Ballpark at Arlington that day, Holland’s performance would have been my money’s worth. No baseball for the ride home would have been needed.

The problem, though, is there are far more casual fans than hardcore fans in the stands these days. Most people go for the trimmings, not the main dish. And people who don’t truly have a grasp of the game often unsuspectingly find out the inherent dangers.

On Friday, the day after Stone made his fatal plunge for Hamilton’s toss, Hamilton fouled off a pitch that struck a male fan sitting five rows behind the third-base dugout.

The fan, whom Hamilton said had his head down and wasn’t looking toward the field, needed stitches to close a wound on his face. He was lucky.

“I saw it happen. Again,” Hamilton told reporters after the game. “There’s certain times people can’t help getting hit, I understand that. I just wish people would pay a little more attention, not be on the phone, not be turned away.”

In other words, know the game. Be aware of the dangers. And stay focused.

By all accounts since Thursday, Stone was a wonderful father to Cooper. On the way to the game that day, Stone stopped off and bought Cooper a new baseball glove in hopes a ball might come their way.

A genuinely heartfelt gesture from a father who wanted to make the day special for his little boy.

In hindsight, perhaps a scorebook and a lesson on how to watch and score the game would have been a better choice.

I’ve been to more baseball games, more stadiums around the country than anyone I know. And I’ve never left with a ball.

I’m more than OK with that. Life goes on.

Sadly, incredibly sadly, the same can’t be said for Shannon Stone.