All-Star Game lineups - Hamilton plans to reach out toward Stone family following tragedy

Hamilton plans to reach out toward Stone family following tragedy

PHOENIX (AP) -- Josh Hamilton patiently, even graciously, answered question after question on Monday about the tragic death of a fan who fell from the stands trying to catch a ball the Texas Rangers star tossed toward him.
He talked about reaching out to the family of Shannon Stone, the firefighter who tumbled to his death Thursday night as his 6-year-old son looked on.
"I haven't thought it all the way through yet," Hamilton said. "Obviously, I want it to be personal, face to face. I'd love to know what kind of man Mr. Stone was and just meet his wife and his little boy and see where it goes from there.
"The memorial fund, my wife and I plan to do something with that and try to do everything possible."
But he knows he can never do enough.
"Nothing we can do is going to bring him back," Hamilton said. "But the organization can take care of the family and see that everything is going in the right direction."
Two nights after Stone's death, Hamilton hit the game-winning, ninth-inning home run for the Rangers, a release of sorts for a man who recovered from drug addiction and lives with an abundance of Christian faith.
"It helps me handle life," Hamilton said, "and this is life, this tragedy. There's things that happen that you have no control over and you don't understand them and you will never understand them until you stand in front of your maker."
He was simply tossing the ball toward a fan that he noticed had a young boy with him.
"Just a random act of kindness turned tragic," Hamilton said. "It just lets you know how quickly life can change, just in a blink of an eye, that quick."
Hamilton said that, despite a heavy heart, he came to Arizona to put on a show.
"Life has to go on," he said. "I still have obviously some feelings about the Stone family and everything that happened, but at the same time I have the joy as far as being here, and the fans want to see me play the game, so I'll do the best I can to excite and entertain to the best of my ability."







All-Star Game lineups

American League manager Ron Washington and the National League's Bruce Bochy announced their lineups for Tuesday night's All-Star Game in Phoenix:

AL
C. Granderson, CF

R. Weeks, 2B

A. Cabrera, SS

C. Beltran, DH

A. Gonzalez, 1B

M. Kemp, CF

J. Bautista, RF

P. Fielder, 1B

J. Hamilton, LF

B. McCann, C

A. Beltre, 3B



NL
L. Berkman, RF

D. Ortiz, DH

M. Holliday, LF

R. Cano, 2B

T. Tulowitzki, SS

A. Avila, C

S. Rolen, 3B







Are you Kidding Me? Anyone want to write a caption for this???????