A warm Friday evening at LoanDepot Park turned tense when a Philadelphia Phillies home run ball, secured by a devoted dad for his son’s upcoming birthday, ended up in the hands of someone else.
The moment that was meant to be a memory ended in chaos, but an unexpected twist restored hope.
Lincoln Feltwell, about to turn ten, was thrilled as his father, Drew, caught a home run struck by Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader and placed it gently into his glove.
“We’re just trying to make this week about him,” Drew said of the family’s baseball outing.
He went on, “I felt like super dad putting that ball in his glove and giving him a hug.”
Within seconds, a gray-haired woman approached, voice raised just inches from Drew‘s ear: “That’s my ball!” She insisted the ball belonged to her, claiming it had landed in her seat.
The confrontation left Drew in disbelief. “Still in disbelief that she walked down there like that,” he told NBC 10.
Faced with mounting tension and a stadium full of eyes, Drew made a difficult choice.
“I pretty much just wanted her to go away… 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”.
Though the crowd booed and the woman left clutching the ball, reportedly flipping off the crowd on her way back to her seat, Lincoln was visibly devastated.
A score turned around
Then came the silver lining. The Marlins organization stepped in, offering the young fan a gift bag in a gesture of goodwill.
Later, Harrison Bader met with Lincoln after the game and presented him with a signed bat, turning a heartbreaking moment into a touching one.
Drew reflected on the day’s ending with unexpected optimism: “We ended up having a good night because of good people… I wish I had the ball for my son to put in his room next to the bat, but if I had the ball, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the bat, so it worked out fine.”
Lincoln himself admitted his disappointment but also acceptance in candid terms: “Um, I wasn’t very happy that we had to give it to her, but we can’t win,” he told NBC 10. “She was gonna get it anyways.”
Drew echoed his son’s sentiment, adding that he would respect the fan if she came forward: “I hope that ball means a lot to her.”
The incident and the debate it stirred over adult behavior at sporting events have sparked wider conversation. Fans labeled the woman online as “Phillies Karen,” and widespread outrage followed.
Social media misidentifications followed, including erroneous claims about her identity; Cheryl Richardson-Wagner publicly denied being involved, calling herself a Red Sox fan and disavowing the viral label.
To this day, the woman’s identity remains unknown.
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