The father who gave up a home run ball he grabbed for his son to a furious female Phillies fan demanding the souvenir wants everyone to ease up on her.
“Please don’t do anything to that lady,’’ Drew Feltwell told USA Today. “Leave it alone. You know, somebody knows her and can talk to her, that’s different. But God, I don’t want people breaking in their house and stuff like that. The internet already messed her up pretty good.”
The woman has been ridiculed since the moment she startled Feltwell by screaming in his face demanding the Harrison Bader home run ball during Friday night’s game in Miami.
Feltwell, who initially gave the ball to his son, Lincoln, relented and gave the ball to the woman to deescalate the tense scene.
“I pretty much just wanted her to go away,” Feltwell told NBC10 Philadelphia on Saturday.
Social media users have shamed the “Phillies Karen” over her behavior, which included flipping off fans in her section who called her out in the moment for feeling entitled to a ball that landed near empty seats.
“I could say something like she got what she deserved, but I don’t know if she deserved that much,” Feltwell told USA Today.
Sleuths have been trying to identify the woman. Some wrongly identified her as Cheryl Richardson-Wagner, who had to set the record straight on Facebook.
“Ok everyone,” Richardson-Wagner posted on Facebook Saturday. “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!”
The Marlins apologized to Lincoln and have him and his sister a gift package featuring baseballs.
Lincoln also got to meet Bader after the game and received a signed bat from the former Yankees and Mets outfielder.
A trading card retailer, Blowout Cards, has offered the woman $5,000 for the ball, but only if she signs it and writes “I’m sorry,” so the company can give the ball to Lincoln.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
