{"id":944,"date":"2011-07-08T01:32:35","date_gmt":"2011-07-08T05:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=944"},"modified":"2011-07-08T01:32:35","modified_gmt":"2011-07-08T05:32:35","slug":"josh-hamilton-distraught-over-tragic-accident-that-kills-rangers-fan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/07\/josh-hamilton-distraught-over-tragic-accident-that-kills-rangers-fan.html","title":{"rendered":"Josh Hamilton distraught over tragic accident that kills Rangers fan"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw this story online but didn’t read the details until later when I noticed that Josh Hamilton was trending on Twitter. That’s when I heard the sad irony of the Rangers fan who slipped while trying to catch a ball Hamilton had tossed to him from the outfield. That fan fell over the railing and plunged 20 feet to his death. Even more tragic was the fact that he was with his young son.<\/p>\n

As the father of three young boys (one of which I’ve attended three MLB games with), this is an unimaginable accident.<\/p>\n

First and foremost, please pray for the family and friends of this man–especially his children.<\/p>\n

Secondly, pray for Josh Hamilton who according to reports is distraught over the tragedy, even though he really shouldn’t be blamed for what happened.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, pray for those who were in attendance (fans, players, officials, etc.) who saw the accident and might be dealing with their own issues of grief, horror and dismay.<\/p>\n

And finally, pray for wisdom for MLB officials who might be need to consider how to address the issue. The league may think about ending this popular act of player-to-fan interaction that has been mostly a harmless tradition but is suddenly looking to be something that might need to stop in order to prevent future tragedies from occurring.<\/p>\n

Here’s a link to one of the stories<\/a> that will provide additional details of what happened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw this story online but didn’t read the details until later when I noticed that Josh Hamilton was trending on Twitter. That’s when I heard the sad irony of the Rangers fan who slipped while trying to catch a ball Hamilton had tossed to him from the outfield. 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Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":945,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions\/945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}