NBC Philadelphia
A Florida family is going to the World Series after a viral incident over the weekend. During Friday night’s Marlins-Phillies game, a man was yelled at by a woman dubbed ‘Phillies Karen’ by the Internet after he picked up a home run ball during a scrum to give it to his son, who was celebrating his birthday. The man eventually instructed his son to give the woman the ball.
⚾ 🗣Video going viral at Phillies game, a woman now named “Phillies Karen” demands a home run ball from a father and his birthday-celebrating son, sparking outrage. #Phillies #phillieskaren #mlb pic.twitter.com/mB6e8R2cAV
— Prince Carlton ⚡️🇺🇸 (@_PrinceCarlton_) September 6, 2025
After much social media discourse, the father explained the reason why he decided to give the woman the ball.
“We were there to get a home run ball, so I thought I had accomplished this great thing, and putting it in his glove meant a lot. She was just so adamant, loud, yelling, persistent. Didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Hundreds of people just staring, like I said. She was very close, and as dad of the family, so I didn’t want to do something that I regret, and that was the choice I made, is just hand the ball back, tell her go.”
The Phillies dad who took a home run ball out of his son’s glove to give to a complaining “Karen” apologizes to his son for doing it. pic.twitter.com/gIbEeME4MS
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 7, 2025
The kid was given a signed bat by Phillies star Harrison Bader, and will now go to the World Series, thanks to Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis.
I’ll send this young man and his family to the @MLB World Series on me. Oh and you just won an RV as well. #DadofYearWinsThatone @barstoolsports https://t.co/34bVvZfWCA
— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) September 6, 2025