“Taking it back out killed me” - Phillies fan opens up about viral moment of giving away Harrison Bader’s HR ball from son after wild confrontation

The Philadelphia Phillies' game against the Miami Marlins on Friday made headlines after a controversial incident from the stands at LoanDepot Park went viral.

In the fourth inning, Phillies slugger Harrison Bader sent a ball flying over the left field wall and into the stands for a solo home run. Fans scampered to catch the ball with a Phillies fan, later identified as Drew Feltwell, grabbing the ball and giving it to his son.

However, a woman, another Phillies fan, charged Feltwell and demanded the ball back, claiming it was hers. Feltwell took the ball away from his son and gave it to the woman. The clip went viral on social media with fans enraged at the woman's antics.

Marlins officials noticed the event and the young fans were handed goodies by a staff member in the stands. Following the game, Bader met Feltwell and his family, gave away a signed bat to his son, Lincoln.

While Feltwell was grateful for the gesture from the Marlins and the Phillies, he revealed the grim feeling of taking away the ball from his son during the game.

"Putting the ball in his glove and then taking it back out killed me. I hope that ball means a lot to her.”

Phillies fan reveals woman left with the ball after being booed by crowd

The woman who walked away with the ball in the video remains unidentified. Feltwell revealed that she was booed at the ballpark and left a few minutes later.

Drew Feltwell said that he would respect it if the woman came forward to return the ball. Feltwell shared that while he would have loved to have the ball next to Bader's bat in his son's room, he was content with getting the signed bat.

“I wish I had the ball for my son to put in his room next to the bat, but if I had the ball, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the bat, so it worked out fine," Feltwell said.

According to a social media post Marcus Lemonis, CEO of Camping World, has offered World Series tickets for Feltwell and his family.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash