Braves, MLB should have acted before 2015 fan death: lawsuit

Atlanta Braves employees stand at the portal of section 401 near where fan Gregory K. Murrey, 60, Alpharetta, Ga., fell from the top deck to his death during a baseball game between the Braves and the New York Yankees in Atlanta. | Curtis Compton /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP

ATLANTA — In court documents filed this week in a lawsuit following the 2015 death of a fan who fell from the upper deck at an Atlanta Braves game, Nolan Ryan says guard rails at the Texas Rangers’ stadium had to be raised “to protect our fans from themselves.”

Ryan, the former Hall of Fame pitcher, was Rangers president when he led the effort to have rails raised at Arlington Stadium following the death of a fan, Shannon Stone, who fell in 2011.

Gregory Murrey, who was 60, fell from the upper deck at the Braves’ former stadium, Turner Field, on Aug. 29, 2015. The Braves and Major League Baseball are defendants in the lawsuit filed by Murrey’s family, including his wife, Laura.

The lawsuit contends fan deaths at other parks, including Arlington Stadium, should have led MLB to demand all teams have higher guard rails.

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