Texas Baseball Fan Shannon Stone Asked About Son Before Dying

July 9, 2011 — -- 'Y'all need to check on my son,' Texas Rangers fan Shannon Stone reportedly said after falling from the stands while trying to catch a ball for his young son during Thursday night's game at Arlington Stadium, according to witness Margie Hargis.

Moments later Stone suffered a fatal heart attack.

The Texas Rangers flew flags at half staff at Friday night's game and have begun a memorial fund for Stone's family.

Stone, 39, a Brownwood, Texas, firefighter, with his 6-year-old son Cooper at his side, reached out to catch a ball tossed toward him by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. He reached too far, tumbling over a railing 20 feet head first onto concrete below.

"Behind me I heard somebody say, 'Hamilton, how about the next one?' You know I got the next one, and threw it in that direction," Hamilton said.

Stone was bleeding badly and worried about his little boy.

His family issued a handwritten statement, saying, "The Stone family is devastated by this tragedy. The family appreciates your thoughts, kind words, prayers and asks that you respect their privacy during this difficult time."

There is also concern for Josh Hamilton, the player who tossed the ball. He's battled his way back from addiction, and now has to deal with potential feelings of guilt over what happened.

"I can't imagine how the Stone family is feeling and my heart, my sympathies and prayers go out to them," Hamilton said.

At last night's game, with flags flying at half staff, players and fans paid silent tribute.

"We ask that all fans could please rise and please remove your caps," the announcement said.

Rangers team president Nolan Ryan said at a press conference that the tragedy "was one of the saddest things I've ever seen in a ballpark. It goes down to the basic roots of who we are and what we stand for."

He said Thursday night that Hamilton was "very distraught over this, as the entire team is," and today Ryan said that the players would be offered counseling, and if any player "felt they needed some time away, we would certainly be open to that."

This isn't the first accident at the Rangers' stadium. Last year, another fan fell reaching for a ball and fractured his skull.

Ryan said a study had been done last year of the ballpark's railings after the fan suffered serious injuries in the fall.

"They exceeded code," he said. "Because of that ... we felt what we had was adequate.

"We're going to look into anything we can do to make our stands safe for our fans," he said.

ABC News' Kevin Dolak and Dan Childs contributed to this report.