Major League Baseball fans are still searching for ‘Phillies Karen’ after she took Harrison Bader’s home run ball away from a young fan, but it’s the latest sports scandal in a week of controversies.
The unidentified woman, labeled ‘Phillies Karen’ by outraged fans on social media, went viral for demanding that a father return a home run ball that landed in her section. The ball had already been placed in the baseball mitt of a young fan, but the father handed the ball over to diffuse the situation.
A similar incident occurred at Citi Field days earlier, when a New York Mets fan snatched a ball away from an elderly man. Less than a kilometer away at Flushing Meadows for the US Open tennis, a Polish businessman snatched a hat from a young fan after Kamil Majchrzak greeted the crowd.
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It’s been an exciting time for sports in the U.S., with the NFL returning, baseball nearing the postseason, and the final Grand Slam of the tennis season taking place in New York. However, three infamous incidents have occurred in the crowd and gone viral.
The controversies began when a hat was snatched at the US Open, and the culprit was uncovered on social media. Two incidents have since occurred in MLB games, and here, Mirror U.S. Sports brings you the full breakdown:
‘Phillies Karen’
On Friday, Sept. 5, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 9-3 at LoanDepot Park, but Bader’s home run led to a viral incident. A father named Drew Feltwell was the first to react and gifted it to his son Lincoln, but he was soon confronted by ‘Phillies Karen.’
Feltwell eventually handed ‘Karen’ the ball after she continued to argue, but she was booed by fans and even used a rude hand gesture. Representatives of both MLB franchises spotted the incident, and a Marlins staffer came over to the section and handed Lincoln a bag of merchandise and baseballs.
The Phillies then arranged for Lincoln to meet with Bader after the game, and he gifted the young fan a signed bat. Reflecting on the incident, Feltwell told NBC10 Philadelphia: “I pretty much just wanted her to go away.
“And because I had a fork in the road, either do something I was probably going to regret or be a dad and show him how to de-escalate the situation. So that’s where I went.”
Fans began searching for ‘Phillies Karen’ on social media, and several women were forced to deny involvement after being falsely identified. A trading card retailer, ‘Blowout Cards’, offered ‘Phillies Karen’ $5,000 to return the ball to Lincoln, but only if she signed he baseball with the words, “I’m sorry.”
The CEO hat snatcher at US Open
During the first week of the US Open, Polish tennis star Kamil Majchrzak produced a stunning comeback to beat No. 9 seed Karen Khachanov in five sets. After his victory, Majchrzak met with fans and began signing merchandise.
Majchrzak gave his hat to a young fan, but an older man snatched it from him within seconds. A video of the incident went viral, and Majchrzak pleaded with fans in an attempt to be connected with the family of the young boy.
The internet listened, and Majchrzak ended up meeting the boy and his family and offering them more gifts as compensation. However, the internet also managed to identify the man, Piotr Szczerek, a millionaire Polish CEO of the paving company Drogbruk.
After initially disabling public comments on his company’s pages, Szczerek eventually apologized in a post on Facebook. It read: “In connection with the situation that happened during Kamil Majchrzak’s match at the US Open, I would like to unequivocally apologize to the injured boy, his family, as well as all the fans and the player himself.
“I was convinced that the tennis player was passing his hat in my direction – for my sons who had asked for autographs earlier. Today I know I did something that seemed like consciously collecting a memento from a child.
“This wasn’t my intention, but it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans. The hat was given to the boy, and I apologize to the family. I hope I’ve at least partially repaired the damage that was done.”
New York Mets drama
Just across the boardwalk from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to Citi Field, there was another controversy days later. During the New York Mets’ 19-9 win over the Miami Marlins on Aug. 29, a foul ball flew into the stands during the seventh inning.
A fan rushed down the steps to claim the ball, which had landed near an elderly gentleman. Just as the older man leaned over to pick the ball up, the younger fan appeared to brush his arms aside and grab it from his space.
When returning to his seat with the ball, the fan grinned and began high-fiving those sitting in his area. However, the elderly man requested to have the ball, but was denied.
Fans were disgusted on social media, and the SNY broadcast crew was also unhappy. “Guys fighting over the ball, come on now,” former Met Keith Hernandez said, prompting commentator Gary Cohen to add, “Wait a second, give it to a kid. [He] took it away from an old guy.”