A viral confrontation took place during the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Miami Marlins game on Friday, after Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader launched a home run into the left-field stands.
The game was taking place at the LoanDepot Park in Miami. After the home run, a man in Phillies gear, now identified as Drew Feltwell, picked up from the ball after it landed in the stands and gave it to his son, Lincoln, as a birthday gift.
However, following this, a woman who was also wearing the Phillies attire, claimed that ball had landed “in her hands first”, and demanded that it be returned. A video of the incident shows the woman arguing with Feltwell, and grabbing his arm.
The man eventually relented and gave back the ball to the woman. The woman has been dubbed as ‘Phillies Karen’ after the incident went viral on social media.
Boy’s father reveals why he gave the ball back
Explaining why he handed the ball back to the woman, Feltwell said that he just wanted her “to go away”. In an interview with NBC10 Philadelphia, Feltwell alleged that he was the only person to grab the ball after it landed on the seats.
He said that the woman was in the seat behind them. ““I don’t know if she was standing up. Maybe? But I was watching the ball from almost the bat to where it went into that seat,” Feltwell added.
Feltwell also recounted the confrontation after the woman walked up to him. ““I didn’t even see her walk up and as she reached for my arm, she just yelled in my ear, ‘That’s my ball!’ like super loud,” he said.
He said that he had asked the woman why she was there, also asking her to “go away”. “And she’s like, ‘That’s my ball! You stole out of – those are from our seats.’ And I said, ‘There was nobody in that seat,’ you know,” Feltwell told NBC10 Philadelphia.
He said that he did not remember what the woman had said, adding that there were “a lot of eyes” on them and the ball was with his son. Feltwell said that the woman “just wouldn’t stop”.
“I had a fork in the road: either do something I was probably going to regret or be dad and show him how to deescalate the situation so that’s where I went,” Feltwell said, adding that he was not “very happy” to give the ball to the woman, but they could not win.
Marlins employees later approached the boy, offering him a ballpark goodie bag. The boy also met Harrison Bader, who signed a bat and posed for photos with him.
