Fan encounter goes viral at loanDepot park, but Marlins, Phillies smooth it over
Sometimes it pays to be the good guy.
After Philadelphia Phillies centerfielder Harrison Bader blasted a home run to the left-field stands at loanDepot park Friday night, two fans grabbed for the ball, and one came away with the prize.
It was a father attending the game with his son — both of whom are Phillies fans — who was seated several seats down the row. After the dad walked back over to his son, the woman — also a Phillies fan — who lost the battle walked back over to the family and berated them.
In a moment of awkward standing around by the family as she delivered a full-throated yell, the father, Drew Feltwell, opted to give the ball to the woman as a way to dispel any further contention.
Speaking with Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate, Feltwell said the woman came about six inches from his ear and was screaming loud enough to make him jump.
It seemed the night was ruined for the family that just endured a bigger emotional swing than a blown ninth-inning lead. But what neither party was aware of was that the Marlins broadcast got everything on camera.
“This lady needs to get it under control,” FanDuel Sports Network play-by-play announcer Kyle Sielaff said during the fray. “That is weird behavior.”
Viral videos from fans in that section show the fan yelling “you took it from me,” and being booed until she left the area.
Two innings later, Marlins guest relations walked over and gave the family a goodie bag with a Eury Perez bobblehead, team T-shirt, a baseball for Lincoln and his sister, and a birthday pin for Lincoln.
Feltwell grew up in southern New Jersey, right outside of Philadelphia, and now lives in West Palm Beach with his wife and two children. The family was at the game celebrating Lincoln’s upcoming 10th birthday.
“We’re just trying to make this week about him,” Feltwell told NBC.
In what turned into an arms race of goodwill, the Phillies invited Lincoln and his family downstairs after the game to meet Bader and get a signed bat.
“We love all of our Phillies fans,” Bader told the Miami Herald prior to Saturday’s game, “I want to choose to believe that it was just not the best moment for that one fan who kind of went after the ball.”
The Marlins have also offered the family to return to a Marlins game with seats in the PNC Club or a suite, along with on-field access to batting practice.
“At the end of the day, it’s important, whenever an opportunity presents itself, to kind of make something right,” Bader said. “So obviously, to give that kid a bat and give him a ball, make him feel better about the situation, I thought was very special.”