At a Phillies game in Miami on Sept. 5, a woman demanded a home run ball that a father had just given his son, who is about to turn 10, and the father handed it over. Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader, who hit the homer, later gave the boy a signed bat.
A Florida father and his son, who is about to turn 10, say they are still taking in a viral confrontation at Friday’s Philadelphia Phillies game in Miami, where a woman demanded the home run ball the father had just handed to the boy. The family left the ballpark with a different souvenir: a bat signed by Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader, who hit the home run.
What happened in the stands
The incident happened on Friday, Sept. 5, during the Phillies’ 9-3 win over the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park. In the fourth inning, Bader hit a solo home run into the left field stands, and several fans went after the ball.
Drew Feltwell, who attended the game with his wife, daughter and son Lincoln for Lincoln’s upcoming 10th birthday, came up with the ball, returned to his seat and put it in his son’s glove. Video shared widely online shows the two hugging.
Moments later, a woman who was also wearing Phillies gear walked over and confronted Feltwell. In one clip she can be heard saying, “That was mine,” and telling him, “You took it from me … that was in my hands,” according to NPR. Feltwell took the ball back from his son and handed it to her, and she walked away with it.
The videos do not clearly show who first secured the ball, NBC10 Philadelphia reported. NPR reported that the ball landed about one row in front of the woman before Feltwell grabbed it. The woman has not been publicly identified.
The father explains his decision
Feltwell, who grew up in Burlington County, New Jersey, and now lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, told NBC10 that the woman was screaming “That’s my ball!” about six inches from his ear. He said he gave it up to calm the situation.
“Just trying to set an example of how to de-escalate a situation in front of my son, I guess,” Feltwell said. He said he later apologized to Lincoln for handing over the ball.
“Putting the ball in his glove and then taking it back out killed me,” he told the station. Asked about the woman, he said: “I hope that ball means a lot to her.”
Lincoln said the woman “was yelling that that was her ball, it was in her seat,” according to ABC11. The family told ABC11 they had not heard from the woman as of Monday. They said they do not expect an apology but would like the ball back.
How the teams responded
A Marlins staff member approached Lincoln during the game with a gift bag, apologized and wished him a happy birthday, according to NPR. Video of that moment also circulated online. The ballpark’s social media account responded to the confrontation with the post “Not under our roof.”
After the game, Bader met Lincoln outside the Phillies’ clubhouse, signed a bat for him, talked with him and posed for photos with the family. The Phillies shared the meeting on social media with the caption “Going home with a signed bat from Bader.”
“I thought the Phillies did a fantastic job at bringing it to my attention and making a really young baseball fan very happy,” Bader said, according to ABC11. He said he wanted to “show some love to a kid whose birthday is coming up.”
Feltwell called Bader “a class act.” He told NBC10 that a Phillies representative also invited the family to meet players, and that the family plans to hang the signed bat on Lincoln’s wall.
“I wish I had the ball for my son to put in his room next to the bat,” Feltwell said.
A familiar ballpark debate
Disputes over souvenir balls are not unusual, and many fans follow an informal custom of passing a caught ball to a nearby child. The Miami clip spread widely and drew a wave of criticism of the woman on social media, with some users giving her a derogatory nickname. Feltwell told NBC10 that fans booed the woman as she left the stadium about five minutes after taking the ball.
For Lincoln, the night ended with a meeting with a major leaguer and a signed bat for his birthday.
Sources: NBC10 Philadelphia and Associated Press, "Boy and dad confronted by woman over Phillies home run ball at Marlins game speak out" (September 6, 2025)
Correction, October 25, 2026: The family was at the game ahead of the boy's 10th birthday, and the father handed the ball to the woman after she confronted him. An earlier version said it was the boy's birthday and that she snatched the ball.
