The Phillies Karen made it onto SportsCenter last night.
And no, we’re not talking about Alec Bohm.
For the uninitiated, let’s set the scene: Harrison Bader launches a solo home run into the left field stands during Friday night’s Phillies-Marlins game in Miami. The ball lands near a woman in a white Phillies jersey, who completely whiffs on the catch. The ball drops to the ground, where a dad in a red Phillies shirt scoops it up and triumphantly brings it back to his young son.
That should have been the end of it. A nice father-son moment, kid gets a souvenir, everyone’s happy.
Instead, the woman marched over like she was filing a complaint with the manager at Target, got in the dad’s face, and demanded he hand over the ball. The father, probably trying to avoid an even bigger scene, reluctantly took the ball from his son’s glove and gave it to her with what can only be described as a “get the hell away from me” gesture.
The whole embarrassing display was caught on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast. By Saturday night, it had made its way to SportsCenter, where Michael Eaves and Nicole Briscoe absolutely eviscerated her.
“Hate to call her a Karen, but…” Briscoe said.
Hey, if the shoe fits.
“Make her feel terrible,” Eaves said when it was brought up that the Marlins provided the kid with goodies afterward.
“Yes, please make her feel terrible,” Briscoe responded. “Because here’s the thing, you took it from a kid.”
“That is how you treat kids,” she added. “I don’t care, lady, who you are. You didn’t have a kid with you. He did. It’s about that. What the hell? What is wrong with people?”
The SportsCenter anchors were saying what everyone else was thinking. This woman turned what should have been a magical moment for a kid celebrating his birthday into a completely unnecessary confrontation. And for what? A baseball that she didn’t even catch cleanly?
Here’s the thing about home run balls: if it hits the ground, it’s fair game. The woman had her chance and blew it. She doesn’t get to march over and intimidate a father into giving up his son’s prize just because she thinks she deserves it more.
The good news is that both teams stepped up to make things right. The Marlins brought the kid a gift bag and some baseballs, which was a nice gesture even if he probably wasn’t thrilled about the Miami swag. More importantly, Harrison Bader himself met with the family after the game and gave the kid a signed bat.
“Going home with a signed bat from Bader,” the Phillies posted on social media, showing the kid with his new prize.
That’s how you handle the situation. Bader turned a lousy experience into something the kid will remember forever. At the same time, the woman who caused the whole mess got to go home with a baseball and the knowledge that she’d been roasted on national TV.
The woman, quickly dubbed “Phillies Karen” by social media, represents everything wrong with adult behavior at sporting events. Sports are supposed to bring out the best in people, not turn them into entitled bullies who steal baseballs from children.
At least the kid got the last laugh. He went home with a signed bat from the player who actually hit the home run, while Phillies Karen went home with a ball and a reputation as the woman who takes souvenirs from kids.
Sometimes the good guys win.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.