Fan dies after falling from upper deck at Turner Field
A fan has died after falling from the upper deck into the lower-level stands at Turner Field during Saturday’s Yankees-Braves.
The tragic incident occurred while the Yankees were batting in the seventh inning. Alex Rodriguez had just been announced as a pinch-hitter when Fox Sports 1 play-by-play man Justin Kutcher reacted to the fan’s fall and suggested play be halted.
Most of the crowd went unaware initially as their attention was focused on Rodriguez. The players and fans appeared unaware as well, as the action continued without interruption.
Before Rodriguez settled in, the Fox Sports 1 broadcast briefly flashed a shot of the crowd as stunned fans looked on and medical personnel quickly arrived on the scene.
Here’s more from the Associated Press:
The man fell close to the area where players’ wives and families sit. The family members were escorted to a room near the clubhouse, and many were crying.
A security guard at the room holding the family members said the families saw the man try to hang onto a wire that runs from the protective net behind the plate to under the press box. The man then fell the rest of the way to the lower level seats.
The wires and even the net shook for a few seconds immediately after Alex Rodriguez was introduced as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. The man apparently fell from the upper deck, hit the wire and then fell farther into the seats.
The fan was taken to Grady Hospital in Atlanta and was later pronounced dead from his injuries.
According to eye witness accounts, the fan fell from the 400 level of the stadium, behind the home-plate area and landed between the second and third row of seats on the first level in section 202. No other injuries were reported.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has more:
Marty Burns of Vernon, Ala., was seated in section 401 near the man who fell.
“When they called A-Rod coming to bat, he got all excited, and his momentum took him over (the railing).”
The area near where the man sat soon was vacant as people reacted to what they saw.
“People started crying right away,” said Donnie Marley of Fayetteville, N.C., who also was seated near the man who fell. “A lot of people left. It was surreal. It was like, ‘did I just see that happen.’”
This is the second fan death at Turner Field in the last three years. In 2013, Ronald Lee Homer Jr., 30, died after climbing over a railing and leaping to his death in a parking lot 85 feet below. Homer’s death was ruled a suicide despite his family’s contention it was an accident.
The Braves welcomed their largest crowd of the season on Sunday, with 49,243 in attendance to watch the Yankees make a rare visit to Atlanta. But obviously there’s a somber mood in the aftermath of a truly unfortunate tragedy.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
