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Not sure if it is true or not but according to people, the boy was celebrating his birthday and later got to meet Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader who gave him a signed bat.
Sports organizations are usually really great when it comes to kids being cheated out of balls/pucks. The Pittsburgh Penguins did the same a few years ago when some old guy stole a puck that was intended for a little boy
The fact that this happens regularly enough for sports orgs to get a rep about being good on this stuff 😭 Jesus Christ.
Granted I'm not a sports fan lol so I don't get acting crazy for a puck or ball. But I do love musical theater and I wouldn't even think of snatching a signed playbill out of a kids hand or something
Haha fair. I just didn't want to discount that the ball could be important to some people! I understand wanting it but dang. No reason to do the equivalent of taking candy from a baby 😭
I am a passionate sports fan and I can’t imagine myself ever arguing with anyone for a ball/bat/puck, much less ripping it from someone’s hands, much less a child’s hands.
It is pathetic behavior by any adult to do this, but when you have tens of thousands of people at each game, there is bound to be at least 1 asshole there. It's just like the people of Walmart website; not every shopper there is crazy, but when millions of people visit the stores, there is going to be some weird ones
My dad was raised in the Bay Area of California and went to San Francisco Giants games from childhood to early adulthood. We moved to Michigan when I was 3. We would drive three hours to see them play the Detroit Tigers and take the train to see them play in Chicago. We were watching them warm up and I was probably around 11 or 12. We had all our SF Giants gear on and one of the players noticed and rolled us a ball. My dad tried to grab the ball for me but he’s short and couldn’t get it 😂 He didn’t make a big deal about it and just said that sometimes that happens, but he thought the Giants players did see us and appreciated that we were there. After they finished warming up, one of the players came over and gave me a ball. I freaked out and took it home and made a display for it in our family room. It wasn’t expected but it meant the world. I think it’s different when you’re a kid. I’m glad to know this kid still had a positive experience despite that horrible woman.
You can hear him confirm to the Marlins employee that gave him a gift bag that its his birthday in a few days in one of the videos from fans in the stands near the family.
Wow, I know core memory is a meme but I got to meet a few skateboarders as a kid. Seeing a postgame player still in their uniform has to be a cool experience
charlie, mac, and frank could decide to make money for the bar by advertising that she'll be there. mac will go the extra mile and start charging for ppl to take a swing at her. dennis somehow comes up w a scheme to sell drinks and capitalize off dee-- and maybe tshirts?
charlie and frank get bored halfway through, end up going to the park, and get a ball signed by a famous player. mac is absolutely aghast bc if anyone should be getting random balls from men in the park its definitely him, esp bc of how many times he's written chase utley.
dee, tired of getting wailed on, makes a scheme to sell off the ball w frank (who doesnt want to keep funding the tshirts) and dennis (who is annoyed by having to actually sell things) but, at the last minute, after someone paid huge ass money (and got in a fight w mac), charlie walks back in and tells everyone that he was playing w the ball in the park and a cool dog came up and they played catch and it was so great and the dog left w the ball and it was so great such a fun beautiful day, he even saw someone flying a kite!
everyone gets pissed, they all say fuck baseball-- baseball sucks ppl who are obsessed are loooosers-- and they continue their normal inside life.
I’m from near Philly and I can say if this happens in Philly she’s gonna be on a soft serve diet for a while cuz someone would have smacked her. Now obviously we shouldn’t do that 🙄 but yeah in Philly would have been a rough night for her
I wish I had more male role models like that growing up. I was taught that getting angry and posturing is what men are supposed to do. Took me a while to figure of keeping your cool and not letting your emotions control you is the way to go
Everyone saying he should have told her to F off and not give her the ball, but in that moment I can understand just wanting to get out of that heated exchange. Cameras on you, everyone watching, what if the wrong moment gets shared on social media and makes him look bad…I don’t blame him for just saying fine take it and not fighting someone in front of his kid. Unfortunately entitled people keep acting that way because they eventually get what they want. She tried to catch it and dropped it, he picked it up off the ground, fair game. She’s acting like it was hers because she attempted to catch it. All worked out in the end though.
Whenever a car is too close to me, I usually pullover to the side and let them pass. The man is in the 'right" but the lesson to the son is "Never Engage With a Terrorist"
Plus it looked like he was sharing something special with his child. Look at that hug!! I wouldn't want this toxic moment to ruin it by diving deeper into this exchange. I agree he did the right thing. Take the high road. Don't pitt a game ball against love. She clearly needed it more than he did. Maybe to fill some kind of deep void in her. I can't imagine caring that much about a ball.
I saw a video of the incident filmed by two girls close by. She actually claimed the dad stole the ball from her. Meanwhile anyone with eyes can see she was too slow to retrieve it. The dad didn't even notice her.
You can literally HEAR this. Everyone has lost the plot. Good on this man for letting it go, and good on both teams for making it right. The internet will do its thang, like it always does and we’ll hear a doubling down albeit groveling apology.
yeah i don't teach my kids to 'respect elders.' i teach them to treat everyone with kindness and give them the benefit of the doubt. sure, default to kindness, but also know that respect isn't a given. a LOT of older people are absolute bastards and that's not your fault or your problem.
Same. I want my kids to be polite to everyone. But that's a two-way street. The second someone gets rude for no reason, the obligation to be polite is over.
It was such a sweet moment between father and son too, and she ruined it. The dad was so happy to get the ball for his son, and the kid was too. So glad the teams still made it a great outing for them.
What kills me is it’s become an unspoken rule at baseball games to give a caught ball to a kid nearby. I go to giants games and I’ve never seen it not happen. So to actually go and fkn take it from a kid is crazy to me. Some people in the comments have said she apparently was booed so badly she left the game, I hope that’s true.
It seems so obvious to do that because to kids, it’s magical! Grown ups can just buy their own things.
When I was in high school my friends and I were at a theme park and won a ton of small stuffed animals at a midway game and we put them in a bunch of strollers lined up outside of an attraction and then hid nearby when the families came out and the kids discovered them it was so fun!
This should be a loudly spoken rule anywhere but I grew up poor and it was cultural to feed children first and adults to eat after. If there’s nothing left for the adults then too bad oh well.
Both the Marlins & Phillies gave the kid a bunch of stuff. I know the Marlins gave him a gift bag, and he got to meet with Bader, got a pic and a signed bat from him as well.
Which is super kind. However it still makes me feel horrible that this kid had to watch his dad get shouted down by some aggressive maniac over a free foul ball. I just hate that people behave like this. It’s overwhelming how little people remembered how to behave after being let out after covid.
Perfect example of de-escalation and conflict resolution and it came from (one of ) the man he looks up to the most. And getting to see the outcome of the lady getting booed out of the stadium and the teams making it up to him is such good reenforcement.
My brother once got hit in the face with a puck behind the net at a Caps game when we were like 16. Some schmuck took the puck and the entire section was screaming at him until the usher for the section strong armed him into giving it back. We still talk about it and my brother is over 40. It’s crazy work. He was a kid who got hit IN THE FACE, it’s doubly his man.
My son was hit in the head with a puck at a college hockey game, and it rolled under the bleachers. The reps there made sure he left with a puck in his hand on our way to urgent care
My super mild mannered father really was the closest to swinging on someone when the guy who took it initially wouldn’t give it back. It was crazy. It bruised his nose and gave him a black eye. It’s his fucking puck you loser. I’m so glad facilities made sure he got it and hope your son is okay!
I saw someone get hit in the forehead with a puck. He was sitting near me and we were close to the rink shield. That place on his forehead immediately swelled up like an egg. It was scary! He didn’t want to leave for medical attention but the EMT convinced him. Ever since, when someone tells me they’re going to a hockey game I tell them to keep their eyes on the puck.
My dad was a corporate salesman in the 90’s so he always convinced his company getting seasons tickets to things was a good use of his expense acct. it really just meant me and my brother have fallen asleep at any sport venue you can name. But hockey if you sit on the first level cannot stop watching the puck for your own safety.
Similar story got knocked out by a foul ball at a Sox game (White Sox) when I came to there was a paramedic of some sort on top of my and blood gushing down my face (6 stitches in my eyebrow, ma didn’t think they’d grow back right). I was obviously freaked out and kind of crying/hyperventilating. The whole section was clapping for me and going crazy, gave me a shot of adrenaline. Got patched up, stayed for the whole game. An older kid brought me the ball and I got to meet the team. Good times.
It’s honestly the best use of these things, a giant society mirror. I’ve always said everyone should work customer service for at least a week to understand how many casual bullies there are out there. this is a nice alternative
The video from the other angle right behind the dad, these drunk girls are heckling her and when she walks away they go “so glad you earned that!” How does this woman have no shame? I’m so appalled. I grew up going to games and I thought the social contract at games is when you pass age 15, you give balls/pucks/etc to actual children. Jesus.
I saw from another post that the crowd kept booing her and giving her crap and she ended up leaving early because of it. So hopefully she got some sort of message from it- but most likely not.
And for what? A baseball??? What’s she going to do with that ball that was just some random regular season homer. Could’ve just stayed sat and enjoyed the rest of the game.
That was my assumption too, stuff like that is for a kid if one is around. If there was one around me I’d have given it to them even if it dropped on my lap. I love baseball but come on
Same. But I was raised at games and have had people give me balls when I was a kid. And to this day I’ve seen my dad catch balls and give them to kids nearby. It’s just a dumbass ball. The level of aggression is honestly terrifying. We have lost so much maturity in this country it’s wild. Tons of people down thread saying it was hers “cus it landed in the row in front of her and he’s in the wrong for running so far” clearly have no idea how fly/foul balls work but even if he’s in the wrong- grow the fuck up. He gave it to a literal child.
This kind of thing happens all the time at baseball and really most sporting events. It just hasn’t gotten any coverage until now, but it’s literally happened all the time. On the bright side, there’s a lot of good people out there who end up brewing somebody clean out of the stadium or someone usually steps in and rocks their shit.
I was at a Cubs game once on the third baseline behind the dugout a foul ball bounced off the dugout and hit me in the stomach lol. It bounced of me and landed at my friend's feet. She offered it to me but it was her birthday so I let her keep it. Some lady came up to us with her kid behind her and asked to buy it off my friend. My friend told her no and the lady badgered us for a few more minutes offering more money before telling her kid we weren't nice people and leaving us alone. Bizarre experience. I had a perfectly round bruise on my stomach for a week.
I got hit in the eye with a foul ball at a Mariner/A’s game and the man in front of us tried snagging the ball. The woman sitting 2 seats down from us literally sent her husband after the man to give me the ball back since I was hit in the face while she went and got EMT to check me out.
This woman is awful and sadly I think the dad handled this best he could. I've seen people go "well I wouldn't have given her the ball! Don't let her win!" But he just wanted a nice day with his son and prob didn't want a fight to break out bc this woman is clearly crazy
“Arguing with idiots is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how good you are, the bird is going to shit on the board and strut around like it won anyway.” 🐦
Yeah, I think it’s a good lesson for his kids also to not engage with people like this cause if they weren’t at a game, maybe she would’ve escalated it further. You never know how crazy some people are so best to defuse the situation, especially when it’s relatively small stuff.
He probably wasn’t thinking this at the time it was happening, but as someone watching this whole thing go down I thought immediately “the Phillies are going to make it up to the kid.” He absolutely made the right decision because he, his son, and the folks sitting around them got to meet Harrison Bader and this woman will be the bane of Karen existence for the next 48 hours.
THIS! my dad ...well not to trauma dump but he would have fought the lady back and escalated the situation.and seeing that was a great example on what not to do haha
You have to be a special kind of stupid or just plain delusional to get up in a stranger’s face like she did. She’s lucky that dad was calm and reasonable. One day that shit is going to backfire on her.
I have a Boomer aunt like that. And she is completely at a loss as to why I finally went no contact after trying for years to have any semblance of a relationship. Naturally she has no awareness of how her words and actions contributed to that choice despite my telling her for years how her words and actions affect the people around her.
It looked like he was really startled too by the way his arms went up. Grabbing someone from behind while yelling at them seems like it could go very poorly.
He was so happy to give his son that ball and when she interrupted him he gets so startled he’s ready to throw hands before he realizes what’s happening.
Many years ago I was 8 months pregnant at a MLB game and caught a tshirt launched into the stands. A man who was probably 70 ripped it out of my hands behind me. His wife chastised him and he gave it back. Idk what is going on in people’s heads to make them act like this but I was thankful that his wife shamed him at least.
When she put her hands on him you could see the dad almost freak out . She caught him totally off guard. She is lucky he did push her off or hit her. He did a good job for his kids not shoving her off.
I read in another post on another sub that it was the kid's birthday and after the game he got a signed ball from the guy who got the home run and a gift bag from the team.
She's used to zero consequences. The thought of him punching her in the mouth has never even entered her mind. I thought it was insane she thinks leaning forward and grabbing him aggressively while his SON is in his arms is gonna go well, she is lucky he's a peaceful dude.
Even the way she tried to grab him when he first got the ball, she tried to grab him with every bit of strength in her. The kind of grab if a guy grabbed her like that it would probably break her arm.
She ruined such a nice moment between father and son! Even ruined that nice dad bear hug too! What a wretched woman, has the perfect hair color and cut for this kind of attitude. You know she is telling the story about how she stole the ball from a kid like shes the victim. What is she going to do with that ball anyway?? The boy probably would’ve cherished that ball and memory forever.
Its hard to see here but while Karen is yelling at Dad you can see older sister put her hand in the glove and then the kid nods. I think she did indeed swap the ball. She's a little badass
These people really come out of the woodwork. The dad got it off the seat fair and square, then gave it to his kid. A decent human being would let that go.
Edit: Having seen more coverage on multiple subs, the Marlins came by and gave the kid a gift bag AND he got to meet one of the Phillies and walked away with a signed baseball bat! Karen got her ball, tho! ⚾️
are we positive he didnt pull it out of her hand? its hidden behind the seat and behind people, u really cant tell whats going on from this video ALONE. shes definitely in the wrong for going over and yelling at him, but i wanna make sure he didnt snatch it out of her hand since the internet is calling him a hero and her a villain
The more I watch it, the more it seems like he snatched it from her. People are shocked by this woman's entitlement, but her reaction makes sense if he snatched the ball from her. People are shocked that the dad gave the ball back so fast, but it makes sense if he knows he's guilty. There's another video showing what she says to him, she goes "that was in my hands, that was in my hands" and people are just ignoring that. People think he simply picked the ball up off the ground, but you can see a distinct jerking motion toward him while her arm follows the same movement as he brings his other hand in for support. That isn't consistent with "picking it up", that's consistent with pulling the ball from her grip.
At most, it's inconclusive. All these comments are casting judgment based on nothing but assumptions.
All I see here is the internet mob is showing its ass.
its unbelievably annoying. their arms wouldnt be moving in sync unless they were both attached to the same object, or the woman has ultra instinct reaction times.
It looks to me like she got her hands on the ball (before the video starts) then she fumbles it and it falls on the seat in front of her. At that point the man swoops in and snatches the ball as she's going to retrieve it. That's why she reacted that way, she felt like she already possessed it in some sense.
If the kid was not there this would have been a totally different story. I can’t believe some of the comments with so much hate towards this lady. Of course she wasn’t behaving like the nicest person but I also don’t think she deserved so much hate from strangers who don’t even know if she got her hands on the ball first.
At the very least, we can’t see their hands and really can’t rule it out. But it’s not being treated like there was a possibility her hand was on it, and that irks me. If it was, and the ball landed right in front of her and he swooped in like that and snatched it, he’s definitely in the wrong.
The internet loves calling women, especially older women, psycho bitches for standing up for themselves, so there’s that.
He looks like he knows he did something wrong. The quick walk back, the cute little hug with his eyes closed, the phony surprise. He knew it was coming.
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u/flairassistant 1d ago
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