Kid who had baseball 'stolen' from him at Phillies game speaks out amid viral attention

The now-famous kid who attended a Phillies game last week has spoken out since he went viral for having his ball 'stolen' by another fan.

Social media moves fast, and we've barely processed recent viral controversies before the next one takes over.

We're still recovering from the recent California healthcare workers incident and the Coldplay kiss-cam situation that seemingly sent everyone into a frenzy.

But the latest event involves what many are calling a classic case of entitled behaviour at a Philadelphia Phillies game.

During a September 5th Phillies-Marlins game, Drew Feltwell grabbed a home run ball from between two armrests, intending to give it to his son Lincoln for his upcoming 10th birthday.

What should have been a special father-son moment quickly turned into a confrontation when a woman immediately approached them, demanding the ball.

Speaking to Fox Sports, Feltwell described the unnamed woman's language during the confrontation: "I can’t even repeat that on air. She was very vulgar."

The woman, dubbed 'Phillies Karen' by social media users, claimed the ball belonged to her despite Feltwell's explanation that it had landed between empty seats. Despite his attempts to de-escalate the situation, she persisted in her demands until Feltwell, feeling pressured by the public attention and her aggressive behaviour, eventually handed over the ball.

But the story didn't end on a bad note. Stadium workers became aware of the situation and ensured Lincoln received team merchandise and a signed bat from Phillies centre fielder Harrison Bader.

Now Lincoln has spoken about the incident and its aftermath.

"I wasn't very happy that we had to give it to her," the boy said in a news interview. "But, we can't win. She was gonna get it anyways."

In the interview, the father was also asked if he had any regrets about giving the ball back.

"That was what we were there for. We were there to get a home run ball. So I thought I had accomplished this great thing," he described. "She was just so adamant and loud and yelling and persistent. I just didn't wanna deal with it anymore."

He added: "I was dad of the family, I didn't wanna do something I'd regret. That was the choice I made."

Since the incident, AI-generated images and fake apology statements allegedly from the woman involved have been circulating on Facebook.

However, the woman known as Phillies Karen hasn't been officially identified, leading to some innocent people being wrongly accused of being involved in the incident.