The Philadelphia Phillies vs the Miami Marlins game on Friday produced one of the most viral sports moments of this year. The internet is rallying behind father, Drew Feltwell, who secured Harrison Bader's home run ball in the fourth inning to gift his son Lincoln on his birthday.
Just moments later, securing the baseball, the father and son were asked to give up the ball in a rather demanding manner by a woman whom the internet has named "Phillies Karen." The father reluctantly gave up the ball, but they were compensated for it by both the Marlins organization and Bader himself.
Meanwhile, the internet has drawn a "Karen" reference for the middle-aged woman, who was in a Phillies jersey at LoanDepot Park.
What does "Karen" mean?
The slang "Karen" is used critically to describe a middle-aged white woman who behaves in an entitled, demanding, or confrontational manner, often at the expense of others. They are one of those women who demand to "speak to the manager" at the slightest issue. They behave out of order and often get into public arguments.
Now, coming to the woman, who remains unidentified and gets referred to as "Phillies Karen," the above-mentioned slang arguably sits right. She took the ball away from a kid who was celebrating his birthday just because she thought she secured the ball first, though video footage shows it wasn't the case. As Lincoln's father claimed, she was aggressive while doing so.
"I don’t even remember what she said, it was, you know, a lot of eyes on us by that time and the ball was already in his glove and she just wouldn’t stop and I mean, I’m literally leaning back as she’s in my face yelling and yelling and I pretty much just wanted her to go away because I had a fork in the road: either do something I was probably going to regret or be dad and show him how to deescalate the situation so that’s where I went," the father told NBC Philadelphia.
All the above traits suggest why the internet nicknamed the woman "Karen" category, given her behaviour and entitlement.