How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. How do you get to the set of Good Morning America? Apparently, all it takes is acting like a dipshit at the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby.
As we noted yesterday, Kingman resident Keith Carmickle nearly died when he tried to catch a home run ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder during Monday night's MLB Home-Run Derby -- which is apparently what it takes to get a trip to New York City to appear on GMA.
GMA staff did not immediately respond to New Times request for confirmation, and Carmickle could not be reached for comment.
However, a KTAR reporter spoke to Carmickle, and reports that his near 20-foot fall -- and his buddies' heroic grab -- was not a publicity stunt.
If you missed it, Carmickle and his pals reportedly had already caught several balls during the Derby, but Carmickle apparently wanted one more -- a Prince Fielder jack that was out of reach.
Standing on a metal table in front of his seat, Carmickle tried to catch Fielder's home run, which didn't quite make it over the railing 20 feet above the pool deck in Chase Field's right field bleachers.
Trying to catch the ball, his momentum carried him over the railing where he would have tumbled 20 feet to what arguably would have been a face full of concrete and his possible death.
All for a freakin' baseball.
His friends, luckily, caught him before he hit the deck.
The fantastic leap wouldn't be so moronic if it hadn't happened on the same day as the memorial service for Shannon Stone, a Texas father who died last week after falling from the stands at a Texas Rangers game while trying to catch a ball thrown into the crowd.
However, Stone didn't get a free trip to New York to appear on Good Morning America. His trip was to the morgue.
