Baseball is full of unwritten rules. Some are silly and antiquated, or counterintuitive to winning, but one is so simple it barely warrants an explanation.
And yet, on Friday night, during the Phillies’ 9-3 win over the Miami Marlins, one fan seemingly broke that rule: Give foul balls or home run balls to kids, particularly if they already he it in their possession.
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The culprit is an unidentified Phillies fan who scrambled for a Harrison Bader home run ball near her seats. When a father, also a Phillies fan, came up with it and ge it to his son, the woman marched over to him, irate, and demanded he return it. The father, identified by NBC10 as former South Jersey resident Drew Feltwell, put up his hands, reached into his son Lincoln’s glove, and ge her the ball.
Within hours, the woman had gone viral and was dubbed the “Phillies Karen.”
The woman has not been identified as of Saturday afternoon, although the internet got it wrong several times, forcing a nurse from Moorestown to issue a statement.
“OK everyone … I’m NOT the crazy Philly Mom (but I sure would love to be as thin as she is and move as fast) … and I’m a Red Sox fan,” she wrote on Facebook.
The Hammonton School District, in Atlantic County, also issued a statement, claiming the woman did not work there.
“Anyone who works for our school district, attended as a student or lives in our community would he obviously caught the ball bare-handed in the first place, oiding the entire situation,” the district wrote.
But did the woman actually catch the ball? According to the video being shared online, she certainly thought so.
“You took it from me,” she appears to tell Feltwell. “It was in my hand.”
Others on social media suggested that it was Feltwell who broke an unwritten fan rule by moving across multiple seats to retrieve the ball.
Feltwell could not immediately be reached for comment. He told NBC10 he grew up in Burlington County, but now lives in West Palm Beach. He went to the game with his wife, daughter, and son, Lincoln, who was celebrating his 10th birthday.
“We’re just trying to make this week about him,” Feltwell told the news station.
Feltwell didn’t mention whether the woman had possession of the ball, but he ge it to her, regretfully, to deescalate the situation.
“I hope that ball means a lot to her,” he said.
The woman may he wanted to give the ball to a child, grandchild, or student. No one knows the rules for that scenario.
Lincoln Feltwell didn’t go home empty-handed. The Phillies invited the family into the locker room after the game, where he met Bader, who ge the boy a baseball bat and signed it.
Going home with a signed bat from Bader pic.twitter.com/pCaXHSjLgL
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 6, 2025“We are glad the night ended on a positive note for Lincoln,” the Phillies said in a statement.