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.

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

First and foremost, please pray for the family and friends of this man–especially his children.

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.

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.

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.

Here’s a link to one of the stories that will provide additional details of what happened.