Fatal Fall at Atlanta Braves Game Ruled an Accident

Sixty-year-old, longtime Braves fan Gregory Murrey was apparently booing Yankees all-star Alex Rodriguez in the visitors’ half of the 7th inning when he fell from the top deck of Turner Field.

“Right now preliminary investigation reveals there is no type of foul play but we need to wait until the medical examiner rules on the cause of death”, said Atlanta police lieutenant Charles Hampton, the department’s homicide commander. Murrey then was taken from Turner Field to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

August. 12, 2012: Ronald Lee Homer Jr., 30, of Conyers died after going over a railing and landing 85 feet below in the players’ parking lot.

The Yankees finished off a three-game sweep of the Braves with a 20-6 blowout, putting the stench of their recent home stand behind them as they head into September.

The game continued while the man, identified by an usher as a season ticket-holder, was treated.

Staudacher stated he noticed no motion from the fan. According to several witnesses, Murrey began heckling Rodriguez before losing his balance and falling from the upper deck in section 401. Homer’s family believe his death was accidental.

“To do something like that costs money and that’s the concern for Major League Baseball, is to raise the railings from 32 inches to 44 inches costs about $1.1 million per stadium”, Dukes said.

“I think that like everybody else you’re in a state of shock and disbelief”, Ricotta said. “Not only the family of the gentleman, but others who witnessed it, experienced it”.

“There was a tonne of kids right there”, he said. It’s not something I really want to get into.

Braves president John Schuerholz didn’t address specifics on Sunday about guard rails at the new stadium, though he did say that while Murrey’s death was tragic it wouldn’t influence construction plans. However, it was during the third inning that the game got away from the Braves when Chase Headley and Stephen Drew homered, driving in Greg Bird and Didi Gregorious respectively.

“That’s awful”, Braves pitcher Matt Wisler said.

In 2008, Justin Hayes, 25, died after falling down a stairwell in Atlanta throughout a recreation towards the Mets. Police said the unidentified man was in his early 60s, although his name was not released.

More often than not for a day game following a night tilt, Joe Girardi would rest Brian McCann and an older player who participated the night before, with Carlos Beltran coming to mind.

Greg Shiver of Tennessee, who was attending the game with his son, said, “We were sitting in Row 6 and I just told him to watch for A-Rod”. Scully now calls all nine innings of home games and road games in California and Arizona for the Dodgers’ television home on SportsNet LA, while the first three innings of his games are simulcast on the radio.