Viral clash over home run ball at Marlins-Phillies game ends with young fan getting surprise gifts
A Friday night home run during the Miami Marlins' game against the Philadelphia Phillies at LoanDepot Park turned sour — then sweet — for a young fan after a confrontation over the ball went viral on social media.
Phillies center fielder Harrison Bader hit a solo home run into the left field stands in the fourth inning of the Phillies' 9-3 win over the Marlins.
Several fans scrambled for the ball before a man, Andrew Feltwell, came up with it, handed it to his son, Lincoln, and hugged him. It was Lincoln's 10th birthday, and he's been a Phillies fan his whole life.
"When I put that ball in his glove, I felt like I accomplished something great," Feltwell told CBS News.
Moments later, a woman in Phillies apparel confronted Feltwell and appeared to shout at him.
"Just screaming in my face, like vulgar curse words in front of my kids," Feltwell said. "So I just decided to give her the ball and get it over with."
He pulled the ball from his son's glove and gave it to her, and video of the exchange circulated online, with many criticizing the woman's actions.
"I refuse to take any involvement in bashing her," Feltwell later told CBS News. "The internet has taken care of that situation by itself. I don't want to be that person in front of my kids."
Later in the game, the Marlins stepped in, with staff giving Lincoln a prize pack and another baseball as nearby fans cheered. He also ended up with an even bigger surprise: the Phillies invited him to meet Bader after the game, and the outfielder gave him a signed bat outside the clubhouse.
"It was really, really cool," Lincoln said of the experience.
The goodwill didn't stop there.
Marcus Lemonis, Camping World CEO and star of CNBC's "The Profit," posted on X that he would cover the cost for the boy and his family to attend the World Series — and added, "Oh, and you just won an RV as well."