Josh Hamilton might miss Friday's game between the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics after being an unfortunate part of the tragedy that involved Rangers fan Shannon Stone passing away.
Stone was attempting to catch a foul ball that Hamilton threw into the stands in Thursday night's series-opener, but the 39-year-old father lost his balance and fell 20 feet while trying to grab the ball the Rangers outfielder had thrown to him. Unsurprisingly, Hamilton is shook up from the whole ordeal.
"We spoke to the ballclub, they understood what has happened and we spoke to Josh," team president Nolan Ryan told the Associated Press. "I think as any of us would be, Josh is very distraught over this, as the entire team is."
The Rangers didn't open their clubhouse to reporters after Thursday's game, but manager Ron Washington said that he'll wait to see how Hamilton is feeling before making the decision if he'll play in Game 2 of the series.
"I think we'll deal with that ... when he gets here, to see how he feels," Washington told the AP.
Hamilton isn't to blame in this situation as the exact same situation has played out many times before without such a horrific result, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him take a few days to clear his head.