A's TV broadcasters Ray Fosse and Glen Kuiper "have been criticized by viewers for their joking tone" when Rangers fan Shannon Stone fell to his death "while trying to catch a baseball" during Thursday's A's-Rangers game, according to Susan Slusser of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Fosse at the time of the incident said, "For a baseball," and there were "some chuckles in the booth." It was "clear that the broadcast team had no idea that Stone had sustained fatal injuries." Neither Fosse nor Kuiper have been made available "to answer questions" about the coverage (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/9). In Dallas, Barry Horn wrote he "still can't fathom" what Kuiper and Fosse "were thinking." Horn offered a transcript of Fosse's and Kuiper's reactions to a replay of the incident, and he noted the two were "giggling." Comcast issued a statement that read, "This is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to everyone involved in this incident. Our coverage reflected our concern as soon as the severity of the situation became apparent." Meanwhile, FS Southwest paid the incident "no mind" during Thursday's game. The net "didn't show a replay or report anything happened during the game." Horn: "Not a mention. They played let's pretend a man didn't fall out of the stands headfirst in full view of almost everyone in the stadium and was rushed to the hospital." The net's decision was "on the instruction of producer Kurt Deichert as per company policy." FS Southwest PR Dir Ramon Alvarez: "We didn't show a replay or mention it because of the sensitivity of the situation. We didn't know the severity of the fan's injury." But Horn wrote, "How FSSW could have ignored it in this Twitter world is remarkable" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/9).
