YouTube Video: Texas Rangers Fan Shannon Stone Dies After Falling From Stands At Rangers Ballpark In Arlington

A member of the Brownwood, Texas Fire Department fell over a railing at Arlington Stadium during a game between the Oakland A's and the Texas Rangers on July 7th, 2011 and eventually died of his injuries.

Shannon Stone, an 18-year veteran of the Brownwood Fire Department, was attending the game with his young son. During the second inning, after Oakland's Conor Jackson hit a foul ball that ricocheted into left field, Josh Hamilton retrieved the ball and tossed it into the stands. Stone reached for the ball, caught it, and then tumbled 20 feet down around 7:33 P.M. The video embedded below shows it at the 0:58 point:



The play-by-play announcers knew the man had fallen, but were unaware of the severity; they assumed there was protection in the area. You can even hear one of the announcers chuckling to himself during the subsequent commentary. But Stone didn't die right away; Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler said "They had him on a stretcher. He said, 'Please check on my son. My son was up there by himself.' The people who carried him out reassured him. 'Sir, we'll get your son, we'll make sure he's OK,'. "He had his arms swinging. He talked and was conscious. We assumed he was okay. But when you find out he's not, it's just tough." Safawna Dunn, who was sitting behind the victim, said Stone appeared to have injuries to both arms and was conscious when taken away on a stretcher. Another person said Stone's head was bleeding badly. Stone went into full cardiac arrest en route to John Peter Smith Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:26 P.M.

Former president George W. Bush was sitting in the front row with Rangers' team president Nolan Ryan when the accident happened. Ryan left moments later while Bush remained in the seats. Ryan said the former president, who used to be the team's managing general partner and is a frequent visitor to Rangers games, was aware of what was happening.

Los Angeles Angels Charter Plane Makes Emergency Landing At LAX; Rule 29 Specifies Team Restocking Procedure In Case Of Catastrophe

ESPN reports that on June 1st, 2011, the Los Angeles Angels charter plane flown by Delta Airlines diverted from its intended destination at Orange County's John Wayne Airport and made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport instead because of a mechanical problem. The landing proved to be uneventful and there were no injuries; the 61 people aboard were bussed to Orange County. The situation was a possible hydraulics problem impairing the landing gear. The landing gear apparently had to be lowered mechanically.

Angels first baseman Russell Branyan said that the pilot did an outstanding job. "These guys, they fly us all over the country, not enough can be said for them", Branyan said. Pitcher Rick Thompson tweeted "Glad to be on the ground save, pilot did a he'll of a job bringing the bird down!" KNBC Channel 4 news video embedded below:

View more videos at: http://www.nbclosangeles.com.

Naturally, this story generated questions about what would happen if a major league team was to be decimated by an aircraft mishap or other mass disaster. Major League Baseball has a contingency covering just such a tragedy; it's called Rule 29, the Major League Disaster Plan:

-- Disaster: If a common accident, illness, or event causes the death, dismemberment, or permanent disability from playing professional baseball of (1) at least five players on one team’s active, disables, or suspended list; or (2) at least six players whatsoever on any team, the team shall be a “disabled club”
-- Procedures: In such an event, the following procedures shall take place:
----- Mourning Period: Commissioner has discretion to postpone or cancel games for a period of mourning.
----- Continuation of season: In conjunction with the Players’ Association, the Commissioner may cancel the teams’ season, or may set a date to resume the season.
----- Restocking Draft: The Commissioner has the discretion to hold a Restocking Draft to restock the disabled team with players. Each club shall make five players from its active roster available for the draft. Each team’s list shall include at least one pitcher, one catcher, one infielder, one infielder (at the discretion of the Commissioner). If the club has less than three eligible catchers on its roster, that team need not make a catcher available. Subject to these rules, each team shall include in its list at least as many players with 60+ days of service time as the disabled club lost (up to five). Any player with no-trade rights may not be made available for a restocking draft. Unless those rights are waived. Each team shall warrant that each player it makes available is capable of playing immediately. The names of players on the restocking list shall be confidential. The disabled club may select as many players as it lost, but no more than one from each other team. In its discretion, the Commissioner may also award the disabled club additional selections in the Rule 4 or Rule 5 drafts.
-- Insurance: The Commissioner shall exercise best efforts to maintain appropriate insurance to ensure the financial rehabilitation of the disabled club.

An index to all the rules of MLB is accessible HERE.

The timing of the restocking draft would depend upon when the catastrophe occurred and the team's position in the standings. If the catastrophe occurred early in the season, the restocking draft would likely occur before play was resumed. But if the catastrophe occurred late in the season and the team was already out of contention, the commissioner would likely cancel the remainder of the team's season and delay the restocking draft until the off-season.

The question is what might happen if the catastrophe occurred late in the season and the team was still in contention or had already clinched a postseason berth.

Hall Of Fame Catcher Gary Carter Diagnosed With Inoperable Glioblastoma, Will Begin Radiation And Chemotherapy Treatment

Doctors treating Hall of Fame major league baseball player Gary Carter have confirmed that he has glioblastoma, a form of cancer which affects the brain and central nervous system. They say surgery is not a good option given the location of the tumor. Instead of surgery, doctors have discussed an aggressive treatment plan entered around chemotherapy and radiation. Carter will return home to Florida to begin the next phase of treatment. According to Carter's daughter, Kimmy Bloemers, doctors further described Carter's four tumors as "a snake of tumors that are connected across the back of the brain." Performing surgery on something like this would be like trying to unravel cooked spaghetti one strand at a time.

Allan H. Friedman and Henry S. Friedman, co-deputy directors of Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, issued the following statement:

"The results of biopsies performed on the tumor in Gary Carter's brain have conclusively shown that Mr. Carter has a glioblastoma. While surgery is not a good option given the location of the tumor, we discussed an aggressive treatment plan with Mr. Carter and his family, which will include chemotherapy and radiation. ... Mr. Carter's youth, strong physical condition and fighting spirit will be to his advantage as his treatment commences."

The family of Gary Carter issued a statement of their own:

"While we are saddened by the news we received today, we take comfort in the overwhelming support and prayers that have been extended to our family during this difficult time. ... Gary was always a fierce competitor on the baseball field and that same tenacity will help him not only fight but win this battle. So please join Team Carter and continue to pray with our family."

The drama began when Gary Carter reportedly started forgetting things, repeating questions and feeling tired all the time. He sought medical treatment, and it was first reported on March 21st, 2011 that four small tumors were found. Now they've been confirmed to be malignant. Glioblastoma is considered a particularly aggressive and fast-moving cancer; the average survival rate for patients after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is 14 ½ months although a few patients have survived as long as 15 years. Carter is 57 years old.

Other major league figures affected by this type of cancer include Bobby Murcer, Tug McGraw, Dick Howser, Dan Quisenberry and Johnny Oates. All are now deceased. Meanwhile, another former major leaguer battling cancer, Tony Gwynn, has a much better prognosis. Gwynn, who is battling parotid cancer, reports that five months after treatment began, all his tests have come back good.

Gary Carter's career record can be viewed on Baseball Reference. He played in the majors from 1974-1992, beginning with the Montreal Expos. In 1975, he was runner-up for National League Rookie of the Year, but his first breakout season was 1977, when he slugged 31 homers with 84 RBIs, and hit .284. Carter was then traded to the New York Mets in 1985; he was instrumental in their world championship run in 1986. Towards the end of his career, he made one-year stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles (NL), and then a final curtain call in Montreal. In 2001, Carter was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, and in 2003, he was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame; during the same year, he was also elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Carter has been married to his wife, Sandy, since 1975. They have three children - Christy, Kimmy and D.J., and three grandchildren. They reside in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Carter also runs the Gary Carter Foundation, which supports eight Title I schools in Palm Beach County.

It's Official: Winnipeg Back In The NHL, Atlanta Thrashers To Relocate; Winnipeg Hockey Fans Overjoyed

The unfortunate 11-season saga of the Atlanta Thrashers has come to an end. The NHL announced in a news conference on Tuesday May 31st, 2011 that a Canadian group, True North Sports and Entertainment, has reached an agreement to purchase the Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg, Manitoba, effective the 2011-12 season. The sale is still subject to the approval of the NHL’s board of governors, who will meet on June 21 in New York; it is believed the Winnipeg team must sell at least 13,000 season tickets before then to guarantee approval.

By virtue of the reaction in Winnipeg, that should be the least of the team's problems. Video embedded below:



The Winnipeg franchise, yet to be nicknamed, will compete in the Southeast Division and Eastern Conference for at least a year as the league looks at possible realignment for the 2012-13 season. Many Winnipeg fans want the team to be nicknamed the Jets, after their previous franchise, and the NHL has released the name for use if the new ownership wants it.

True North Sports also retains ownership of the existing Winnipeg AHL franchise, the Manitoba Moose, and say they will be a farm club for the new Winnipeg NHL franchise next season. Relocation of the Moose is in the offing; True North Sports has yet to decide where, but are strongly considering St. John's in Newfoundland.

Team President Don Waddell spoke out for the Thrashers, and said they had held out for replacement local ownership in Atlanta for as long as possible. He explained that since a potential buyer in 2009 backed off due in large part to the internecine lawsuits that the Atlanta Spirit ownership group were involved with, there hadn't been a lot of heat for the struggling NHL club. He also said that while there were a number of inquiries since that date, only a handful came from persons or groups with the resources to buy a franchise, and that ultimately no sufficient local offers came forth. Waddell himself does not plan to move to Winnipeg with the team, so he'll be out of a job.

Atlanta Thrashers owner Rutherford Seydel insists the Thrashers "tried their hardest" to keep the team in Atlanta, but SB Nation accuses them of having never entered into actual good faith negotiations with any group interested in keeping the team in place.

The Thrashers didn't help matters on the ice by making the playoffs only one time in their 11-season history. In 2006-7, they were ousted by the New York Rangers 4 games to none in the conference quarterfinals. They promptly regressed thereafter. It is the second time Atlanta has coughed up their NHL franchise, having lost the Flames to Calgary after the 1979-80 season. Fan support was there, but there was piss-poor ownership. Since Atlanta has now lost two NHL franchises, questions are beginning to surface as to whether the Sun Belt can effectively support hockey, and whether other Sun Belt franchises may also try to retrench northward.

Certainly, it is fair to say that Atlanta is unlikely to ever receive another NHL franchise.

Had justice been effectively served, the Phoenix Coyotes would have been the team allowed to move back to Winnipeg. The original Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix after the 1995-6 season, not because of lack of fan support, but because of arena issues which have since been resolved. The city of Glendale, Arizona stepped forth at the last moment and rescued the Coyotes with a $25 million bailout -- but that's only good for one year. The Coyotes are still trying to find a buyer; there's a serious rumor afloat that the Coyotes may be Seattle-bound if they can't find a local buyer.

In the final analysis, the reaction of Winnipeg hockey fans makes it all worthwhile. Too bad the Atlanta hockey fans had to get screwed.

Major League Baseball: If Blown Saves Are Overblown, Then Perhaps Saves Ought To Be Redefined

On April 30th, 2011, ESPN writer Matt Phillip takes issue with the Blown Saves statistic in major league baseball. In a post entitled "Blown saves are overblown", Phillip challenges the notion that blown saves correlate with a team's winning percentage, citing the St. Louis Cardinals as an example. Despite the highly-publicized meltdown of Cardinal's reliever Ryan Franklin, who already has four blown saves this season, the Cards are still 15-11 before action on April 30th.

Phillip cites specific deficiencies with this statistic:

Like its ugly brother, the save, the blown save is a blunt object wielded to bash relievers into easily identified goats.

Consider these weird facts:

* A pitcher who enters a tie game and gives up the lead can’t get a blown save.
* A pitcher who enters with a four-run lead and gives up the lead can’t get a blown save.
* A pitcher can get a blown save if the go-ahead run scores on fielding errors.
* A pitcher who blows a save can also get the win.
* A pitcher can be charged with a blown save even though a run may not even be charged to him.

A blown save is merely a half-inning sample of a ballgame. That means that a team has at least 17 other half-innings in which to win any particular game. What do you call it when the starting pitcher allows a run in the fourth inning with a 7-4 lead? Or a sixth-inning reliever who comes into the game down 3-2 but allows a run to increase his team’s deficit? We don’t call it anything, of course.

Further minimizing the detrimental value of the blown save is the fact that the top two career leaders in blown saves, Goose Gossage (112 blown saves) and Rollie Fingers (109), are in the Hall of Fame. So Matt Phillip notes that more variables explain a team's loss than a single pitcher’s inability to obtain three outs in a particular game.

But perhaps a look at the definition of a Save is also appropriate. Since blown saves are dependent upon saves, then we need to find out if we should re-define a save, as set forth in Rule 10.19 of the Official Rules of Major League Baseball. The current definition of a save indicates the bar may be set too low:

The official scorer shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all four of the following conditions:

1. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
2. He is not the winning pitcher;
3. He is credited with at least ⅓ of an inning pitched; and
4. He satisfies one of the following conditions:
----- He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
----- He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
----- He pitches for at least three innings

If the pitcher surrenders the lead at any point, he cannot get a save, but he may be credited as the winning pitcher if his team comes back to win. No more than one save may be credited in each game. If a relief pitcher satisfies all of the criteria for a save, except he does not finish the game, he will often be credited with a hold (which is not an officially recognized statistic by Major League Baseball).

If the ultimate objective of a successful save is to shut down the opposing team's rally and preserving your own team's lead, you can see that some changes are in order. First, the potential tying run should already be on base; the batters at the plate and on deck should be considered the reliever's responsibility. Second, the pitcher getting the save should not have to be the finishing pitcher, so long as the lead does not change hands. And finally, get rid of the three inning rule, which is strictly a longevity save. A reliever who enters the game in the seventh inning with a six-run lead and pitches three innings does not deserve a save, because the potential tying run was not on base when he came in.

Here's a typical situation to illustrate this point. Athletics playing the Angels in Anaheim. Top of the eighth, Angels lead 2-1, Ervin Santana weakens and allows two hits. Fernando Rodney comes in, retires the next three batters. Then Jordan Walden comes in at the top of the ninth and retires the side.

Under the present system, Walden would get the save, because he faced the potential tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth. Rodney would be credited with a hold. But with my recommended changes, Rodney would get the save, because he inherited the potentially tying run and shut down the Athletics without the lead changing hands. Walden would probably be credited with a hold, if we still want to use that statistic.

By raising the bar on saves, we make blown saves more meaningful as well. Of course, raising the bar on saves would mean it would be a cold day in hell before a relief pitcher would get 62 saves in a season again. Thirty saves would be the normal max. And this would make the save more directly comparable to a win for a starting pitcher; twenty wins is considered the benchmark of dominance for a starter.

And finally, one other meaningful measure of merit for relievers should not be neglected. Inherited Run Scoring Percentage (IRSP) measures the relationship between the number of baserunners a reliever inherits from his predecessor vs, the number who score. So if a reliever inherited 100 runners during a season, and allowed 20 of them to score, his IRSP would be .200. Some examples are listed HERE to provide a frame of reference. IRSP is also a way to directly compare all relief pitchers, not just the ones used in save situations.