A Texas Rangers fan, leaning over a railing to catch a ball tossed to him from the outfield by a player, fell to from the stands in Arlington, Texas last night in front of his young son and a group of stunned witnesses in the bleachers, and later died. The man whom Texas newspapers have identified as 39-year-old firefighter Shannon Stone, was still conscious after the 20-foot fall, talking to paramedics as he was lifted onto a stretcher and asking them to check on his son, but he died a short while later at the hospital.

Former President George W. Bush was seated in the front row at the game near the Rangers' dugout with team president Nolan Ryan. Ryan was seen getting up from his seat following the accident, while Bush remained seated and play resumed. The Rangers beat the A's 6-0, not that that matters.

As the Examiner notes, "The accident was eerily similar to one almost exactly a year earlier [at Rangers Ballpark]. Another firefighter fell about 30 feet from the second-deck of seats down the right-field line while trying to catch a foul ball on July 6, 2010." That man, Tyler Morris, survived his injuries, which included a skull fracture.

From the video below, one can see that those railings seem awfully low! Also, the announcers are, sadly, chuckling about the incident before they found out what happened. In any event it's a tragic accident.