It seems we have found bipartisan agreement regarding an event that occurred in Miami last week. LoanDepot Stadium was the site of a baseball game between the hometown Marlins and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.
In the fourth inning of Friday night’s game, Harrison Bader of the Phillies hit a home run into the left field stands. As usually occurs when no one actually catches a home run cleanly on the fly or bounce, a scrum occurred with multiple fans attempting to secure the prize. I personally have been involved in a few of these ‘treasure hunts’ throughout the years, without a positive outcome, I might add.
Friday night, a Phillies fan, Andrew Feltwell, was the person who snagged the home run ball from the concrete beneath and between the seats. He proudly carried the ball back to his son Lincoln, who was celebrating his birthday. Dad triumphantly deposited the ball in his son’s glove as a very special birthday gift. The scene should have ended right there, and it would have if not for a woman, a Phillies fan now forever referred to as the Philadelphia Karen.
This woman, showing an utter lack of understanding of what occurs when a baseball is loose in the stands, behaving with a complete disregard for sportsmanship and fair play, and displaying a total absence of common courtesy, followed Feltwell to his seat beside his son. She loudly and obnoxiously declared that Feltwell had taken the ball from her (which videos showed he clearly had not), and demanded he return it to her. After a minute or so of argument, Mr. Feltwell finally gave the ball to the woman rather than create a scene in front of his son. Fans who observed the scene booed the woman. She replied by flipping off the individuals booing her, thus reinforcing her newly found and well-deserved notoriety and lack of moral character.
The story might have ended there, but the hometown Miami Marlins staff, having observed the incident, brought Lincoln a nice little goodie bag with baseballs and other memorabilia. It got even better for the young man. The Phillies arranged a meet-and greet between the Feltwells and Bader, the Phillies player who hit the home run. Photos were taken and Bader presented the boy with a signed bat. What could have been a disastrous birthday celebration became a memory that will last the boy a lifetime.
So, what of the despicable woman at the center of this debacle? Attempts to identify her, including at least one incorrect labeling of a Red Sox fan as the culprit, have been unproductive at the time of this writing. She likely is consulting hair colorists and plastic surgeons to conceal herself from a universally condemnatory public. Something less than fifty percent of the public display an irrational malady known as Trump Derangement Syndrome. This woman is one hundred percent despised. Even President Trump haters know he wouldn’t take a baseball from a child. At last, we have something we can all agree on. Could this be the start of a national unity movement? Likely not. But it was a great night for Lincoln Feltwell.
Bill Hansmann is a dentist and dental educator with over fifty years in the profession. He continues to teach and write political blogs and semi-mediocre novels while living with his wife and cats in Georgia.
Image: Pixabay