A young Phillies fan and his family who traveled to watch their team play in Miami became the viral sensation of the week when they had a home run ball stolen from them by another fan in an all-time scumbag move.
Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader smacked a home run to left field in the fourth inning of the game and the ball landed in an empty section of the row occupied by the Phillies fans to their right. The father of the young fan scampered over to snag the ball, but a woman who was also in the vicinity of the ball attempted to grab it. The father won the battle (we all know the rule “finders keepers”) and brought it back to his son who was celebrating his birthday.
The woman, who ironically was also wearing a Phillies shirt, did not concede however. She quickly marched towards the man and began arguing with him. After an argument, the man decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and just gave the ball over to her. What should have been a nice scene of a young kid celebrating his birthday with a home run ball was ruined by Phillie-on-Phillie crime by the pestering woman.
All Made Right by Marlins Staff
After having the ball stolen from him, the young Phillies fan was surprised with a gift bag from a Miami Marlins staff member, who apologized for the incident. A classy move by the Marlins organization was met with applause by the rest of the section.
As adult baseball fans, there’s a pretty well known unwritten rule that you give balls hit into the stands to kids. We were all kids at one point praying a foul ball would get hit to us, so once the thrill of the moment is over, a majority of baseball fans understand that you give the ball to a kid sitting near you to make their day. Pretty much an inexcusable move by the woman who stole the ball especially considering she didn’t even have it in the first place.
A lot of credit is deserved for the Marlins for righting the situation and giving the kid a consolation gift and not turning him off from going to baseball games in the future.
On-Field Dominance From Philadelphia
Though it was overshadowed by the viral moment in the stands, the Phillies came out of Friday night’s game with a 9-3 win on the road, further helping the young fan celebrate his birthday. Though the Marlins are well out of the playoff race, they have been scrappy throughout the summer and are prime candidates for playing spoiler to playoff teams in the final weeks of the regular season.
Philly’s win helps keep them in contention for the top playoff seed in the National League, holding serve with Milwaukee who also won Friday. The Phillies have all but clinched an NL East title, but are still battling the Brewers to try to earn a more favorable matchup in the ALDS. They are currently 4.5 games behind Milwaukee.
Fan Goes Viral After Taking Home Run Ball From Young Phillies Fan on His Birthday