I believe there are two kinds of people in this world. Folks who have caught a baseball at a fan at a game, and those that haven’t. I’ll actually expand that a bit to those who have caught anything from a player at a sporting event. Could be a tennis ball, a shirt thrown from a player, maybe a hockey puck. Really, the world is divided between people who left a game with an awesome souvenir and those that haven’t. For the record, I fall in the latter category, although I remain hopeful every time I stick around for the end of a match at the Open.
As you may have noticed, some folks who recently went home victorious have paid a fairly steep price in the aftermath, driven by a confluence of bad behavior and viral social media. Perhaps most notably, we saw this last week at a Philadelphia Phillies game, when a women now unaffectionately called Phillies Karen walked over to a family and demanded they turn over the baseball that dad Drew Feltwell had just gotten off a 4th inning home run from Philly outfielder Harrison Bader. That ball was already in the glove of his almost 10-year-old son Lincoln, who to add fuel to the fire was celebrating his birthday at the game. After a short but seemingly heated exchange – all of which was posted online – Drew took the ball from Lincoln’s glove and handed it to the offended party. Since that moment, there’s been a series of predicable events, kind of like a sports version of the butterfly effect. First, this posted video has gotten more attention on social that most global conflicts combined – followed by broadcast on pretty much every linear news and sports show, making the involved parties almost famous. The public has both largely trolled Phillies Karen while also trying to sleuth her identity, something that surprisingly hasn’t happened in this case. And both the Phillies and the Marlins – who they were playing – have made sure Lincoln got swag and more, including meeting Bader after the game and getting a signed bat. So in the end, his birthday will work out just fine.
Now I know there’s a bit of controversy about how Drew got the ball – namely that he ran over from another row. I also know that this isn’t the only case of an adult stealing a sporting artifact from child at game, including a 50-year-old corporate CEO grabbing a hat tossed from tennis player Kamil Majchrzak that was intended for a young kid. That story blew up quickly, resulting in Majchrzak meeting up with the boy for photos and free gear while the embarrassed executive sent the hat to the kid and posted a public apology – before turning off all comments on social. There are other cases for sure, but the fact that these two happened in such quick succession with a similar playbook – minus the apology – says something about where we are as a sporting public.
First and to state the obvious, the ball or hat or whatever should always go to the kid. I know that’s a tough pill to swallow when you’ve waited your whole life for that one shining moment only to lose it to someone with way more years to make a catch. Second, there is likely a popular belief that this is happening way more now than it used to. I have no idea if that’s true. But what I’d guess is that’s it’s not more prevalent – only more publicized. As a lot of us say only semi-jokingly, if there had been social media and cell phones when we were in college, none of us would have jobs today.
Finally, I think these cases do reminds us of the remarkable and I’d suggest rising value placed on sports memorabilia. Catching a ball at a game doesn’t change the experience of being there. But it clearly alters your perception. These items – a random home run ball, a hat from the 70th ranked tennis player in the world – they hold very little monetary value. But their sentimental currency is off the charts. Perhaps it’s because now you don’t simply put it in your basement, you get to post it on social media as well, kind of like all the folks do with their Honey Duces at the Open – which I hate, by the way. Maybe it’s because of the intimacy of owning a part of the actual sporting event. Whatever it is, at today’s big games, swag rules. And why we all want to be the person that goes home a winner.
Keith Strudler is the Dean of the College of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him at @KeithStrudler.
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