September 7, 2025 • 24 mins
T.J. tries to defend the most hated woman of the weekend (he’s not successful). The video is everywhere, as we see this woman demand a home run ball from a man who caught it for his 10 year old son celebrating his birthday. As the internet tries to identify the “Karen” in the stands, we focus on the father’s choice to teach his son a lesson in de-escalation and humility. It’s certainly restored our faith in the goodness of most people.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey there, folks. It is Sunday, September the seventh, and
we have a Phillies Karen. That is what she's being called.
That is the person that everyone is directing their ire
towards these days. But we are going to try and
to find a way right now to defend Phillies Karen.
(00:22):
And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and
TJ Robes. You have been looking at this video repeatedly
right before we came on and got in front of
these mics.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah, and when you said we're going to defend I'm
gonna take issue with that.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You're already backing away from it.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I never agreed to defend her.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
You are separating yourself from this woman immediately.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yes, okay, because I thought from what I saw, it
was just it was awful and it actually made me
feel sick to my stomach to watch.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It was gross.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
That's what I wanted to ask. Can you give me
an emotional reaction? We can break down and elements of
what we see, what she should have done, couldn't have done,
But how did you feel look like an emotional reaction?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
What was it anger?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Like? I actually felt like I wanted like and I
actually wanted to do, like I wanted to push her.
That's just it was like stop or you just want
to slap her, like what are you doing? Or like
maybe honestly, a really fun thing would have been to
do whilch is hold up a mirror, let her see
her face and what she was doing and how she
was acting like she couldn't see herself, and I'm now
(01:29):
the interesting thing is she can see herself if she
so chooses, because the video of her doing what she
did is everywhere.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
And what does she think of it when she sees it? Folks,
Probably at this point you all have seen or heard
about what happened at a Philadelphia Phillies versus Florida Marlin's game.
This game was on Friday. The incident as we can
describe Philadelphia excuse me, yeah, yeah, Phillies player hits a
home run, goes into the second deck. Everybody scrambles for
(01:58):
the home run ball. We have seen it happen a
million times, and people scramble for them and we'll see
who comes out with it. But it's always a mad scramble. Fine,
there was a scramble for a ball. A man comes
out with the ball, holds it up. You can tell
he's pretty proud that he got it, walks directly over
to his son and almost slams it down in his
son's glove. You could tell he was just so excited,
(02:19):
like he took no moment of joy with that ball
for himself. He went directly to his kid.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
He couldn't wait slam, Yes, he couldn't wait.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Well, seconds later and the cameras stay on this moment,
this is all happening on live television. Seconds later, a
woman comes down the aisle to the man and immediately
starts berating him. Now we couldn't tell what she was
saying from the video. Initially berating the man, and he
frankly roes he was startled in a way that was
(02:50):
almost startling to see him jump in that way. He
looked like he had just gotten caught in the conjuring four.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, he recoiled.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
He completely scared the hell out of here.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
He was definitely scared.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
His jaw kind of dropped and he pulled his hands
in a defensive motion. He was not expecting that at all,
So to me, that almost speaks volumes where we'll get
into who had the ball first or what. But she
claims she had the ball. There was no part of
him where it looked as though he knew or he
thought he had taken a ball from someone. He was
(03:21):
kind of like, wait what because he was so sure
that he had gotten the ball clean and fair.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
You know, you're right. It looked like he was getting
caught up in real time about an incident that he
wasn't aware it took place. Correct, right, So she's yelling,
she's berating him. This goes on for ten plus seconds probably,
and he's trying to say something to her or explain
something to her, and then eventually he reaches into his
son's glove, takes it from his son, hands it to
(03:48):
the woman and kind of gestures and points and you
can tell, just go away, just get away. She goes
back to her seat. Now videos show up online and
robe she is getting handily and someone say, some would
say deservedly roasted.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
She certainly is.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
There were two girls I believe who were behind while
this was all happening and decided to record it on
their phones and immediately uploaded it. So within minutes this
thing was everywhere and obviously was on live national television
as well. So there were two different there were actually
several angles, so once you go online you can see
it from many, many, many different angles, and you can
(04:29):
actually hear her say you.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Took it from me. It was in my hands.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
But people have gone back and looked at the video
from the actual ball coming in and they all go down,
so it's hard to see. But it was second. I mean,
it did not look like there was. There was no
struggle between or among There were three people who went
to go for the ball. There was another man, this woman,
this Karen, and then the man, the father, and.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
He popped up with the ball in like a second. Yes,
there was no struggle.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
That's a good point. He was not pulling it from anyone.
There was no scuffle. It looked like everybody was going
for something. He was the fast one. Yep, it's exactly
what it looks like. But still, even if her pinky
had touched the ball, she doesn't have the right to
the ball. This happens all the time. We've seen this
in court cases, right when people fight over home run
(05:20):
balls and who had it a home run ball, there's
worth millions of dollars somewhere who's in possession of it?
He is clearly he didn't take it from her. We
don't have to argue about that. But still we get
to this point so we can hear what she's saying,
and there's several angles. Everybody's going off on her. And
then what happens. She has a moment she could have
(05:42):
she could have gone and had a second thought, she didn't.
She ends up leaving the stadium, leaving the area in
short order, according to the dad, But the Marlins team
hears about it some kind of way. They bring him
out a goodie bag for the kid who was celebrating
his birthday. The home run hit her from the Phillies
(06:02):
meets him later gives them a signed bat. So all
of that, I know, we look at this and we
see we shake our heads and made what's wrong with us?
What's wrong with people? But then the reaction lets you know, oh,
people are actually really good.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Right. You might have one person who acted badly, but
the majority of the people are were on the side
of the dad and the son. And you know, the
reason why the Marlins saw it so quickly is because
those girls posted it immediately, and so word got around
very very very quickly. When it went viral, like within minutes, well.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
In the dad said, well, yeah, it was shown in
the stadium.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
True.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
He said, people were booing incessantly at this woman.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, they were calling her a Karen from immediately. They
were calling her a Karen. She and that's probably why
she left, because there was actual visceral responses happening in
the stadium within moments.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
The dad described as well later in an interview. We'll
tell you some more about his comments, but to that
exact moment, he said, there was a man sitting with
this woman. He said it might have been her husband,
but he had his head down. He was embarrassed, and
he was the one who got up previously. He got
up before she did and left. He didn't want any
to be near her. He said, she's got up and
start yelling and saying something nasty to him. So this
(07:13):
was kind of an ugly like you.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Should be on my side, you should be standing by me,
And he was like yeah, no, and yeah. Karen was
trending how quickly and it's still trending right now.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
I mean this I haven't checked in the basket of
a lot. When I got up this morning, it was
still number one trending Karen about this woman. Now little
disturbing here is that one of the Google trending topics
was this Phillies Karen identity. Oh wow, people are trying
(07:45):
this was a specific Google trend, a top trend. Folks
are trying to find out who she is.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
We are not going to say a name here on
this podcast, but there is a name or maybe a
name or two floating around. Not sure if they've got
it right or not, but whoever that person is is
getting a lot of heat their way. There are places
they believe she works are getting heat coming their way.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
There have been some places of employment that have actually
put out statements saying that's not the Karen. That employee
is not who you think she is in having to
try and deny. So, I actually can't imagine. Look, she
behaved terribly in front of cameras, but I cannot imagine
what she is probably experiencing today. And yes, there are
(08:35):
tenacious folks who almost certainly will find.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Out who she is.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
She had a very distinctive haircut and hair color and
a very distinctive and yes we all can see exactly
who or what she looks like.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
So anyone who knows her is going.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
To know that is who the mysterious Karen is on
the video, So it's just a matter of time if
they haven't already put it out there.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
But what should we do with that? What should we
do with that information? What should we do with her?
Other than what?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
No, we shouldn't want anything with that. No, I don't
want anything to happen to her. What should happen is
that hopefully she will learn from this, Hopefully she'll realize
how bad her behavior was. Hopefully she'll make amends. It
would be amazing if she apologized to the father and
the child. It would be amazing if she gave the
ball back, even though luckily the boy already got a
ball on a bat, but still from the principle of
(09:26):
the matter, and so that would be my hope that
she actually takes initiative to go do the right thing,
and not necessarily in front of cameras, but just behind
the scenes, repairs what she can, and then goes on
and becomes a better person. But for anyone to single
her out and somehow make her life miserable or hell
by saying or doing things about her online, then we're
just as bad as she is. You know. I just
(09:46):
would never want to encourage anyone to. That's just it's
not for us to decide. And frankly, I feel like
just all this attention in her circle, you know, it
doesn't matter if maybe even anything major happens or but
everyone who knows her is good to know. She's that woman.
She's gonna be called Karen for the rest of her life.
There's probably no way to avoid that. She is going
(10:07):
to suffer. She already is suffering the consequences.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I I always try to reserve a moment here for grace,
for allowing for somebody having a bad moment. And I
can't remember their names right now, but at the US
open the hat snatcher right, Yes, that incident for me
was easier right because it was a split second. It
was a split you don't get. You don't get a
(10:32):
moment to think about what happened, or should I He
saw the hat go and just snatched and got it
for his kit. Fine, this woman had time, she had
time to think, she had time to cool down, she
had time to reflect, She had time to do so much,
(10:52):
and so do you. Alcohol is not an excuse. I
didn't see her with a beer in her hand or
any other drink. But does it change anything. If you say, hey,
that's a that's a Phillies fan who is drinking at
a game. Should we go Ah?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, no, I think that that baby behavior needs to
be called out. But I don't think that she needs
to be in some way. I mean, I know they're
saying they want her band. People are asking for her
to be banned from the games permanently for life. People
are saying she should be arrested.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I don't think it rises to that level. He chose
to give her back the hat, she chose to yell
at him. He chose to be the bigger man, and
that's amazing. There was a lesson in that for everybody.
But do you think do you think that behavior requires
further punishment.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Then she's getting Now? No, I just don't And I
don't know this woman. She might be an angel in
the rest of her life and just had a bad moment,
or she might be an awful person and everybody would
testify under oath that she is. I don't know. But
because I don't know, I'm trying to err on the
side that she just had a bad moment. I am
(11:59):
I'm I'm desperately trying to err on that side. Yep.
And it's hard to do, but there is robes one
one way I could go about possibly defending her, and
I will explain that in just a moment. And also
we do want you to hear what the dad said
in an extended interview he did with a local Philadelphia affiliate,
(12:23):
and again he reassures us that yes, maybe there are
some good people out there, all right, folks defending the indefensible.
If you have not seen the video yet of this,
(12:44):
do we even call her that? It even Phillies Karen.
I don't have another name for her.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yes, I mean it kind of is like Jane Doe,
but now we know it's Philly's Karen.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Okayen, Yes, who barked her way into getting a home
run ball from a kid who was trying to celebrate
his tenth birthday.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yes, that makes it even worse.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Celebrating his tenth birthday and she took a ball from him.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
It's kind of a perfect birthday. You get a home
run ball. You can't beat that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Well, now he's the talk of the town. He goes
back to school his birthday, everyone knows where he was
and everyone knows how he celebrated I mean, he did
get a bat, another ball, and a lot of attention,
which is great.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I'm not saying that he should have.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Had to go through what he went through, but I
do think it probably turned out to be one of
the most memorable birthdays of his life.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Sweet, you make a good point. The game was Friday.
Monday is going to be his first time to go
to school.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Since he's going to be he's gonna be like, yeah,
strutting back into school, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I didn't ask you this, though. What would you have
done as that parent?
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I would not have given her the ball?
Speaker 1 (13:56):
What how would you have reacted?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I would have said, Mammy, need to cal him down,
which would have made her even more angry.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
You think you would have said it that calmly.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, I think so, because I would have seen that
she was so out of control and so out of
place and so not in the right that would have
actually given me the confidence to remain calm. I would
have almost laughed, like, you need to calm down.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I don't know why. I think you would have responded angrily.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Oh, I would have said you need to calm down,
but with a sneer. Yes, you, what would you have done.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I might have laughed, but knowing cameras, I would have
stood my ground, if you will, and dared this woman
to shout in the face of a grown man who
was not going to be physically intimidated by her. I
would have kept a smile on my face the whole time.
I probably would have taken the ball from my child
(14:53):
and I said, oh, this ball, Oh no, you're not
getting this one. If you want to get a last
look at it or anything, it's cool.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah, we're going on a picture with it.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Maybe I would have gone sarcastically that far.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yes, with that lady, I believe that, But neither one
of us would have given her the ball back. No, no,
I would not have either, absolutely not. Look and I
understand he wanted it just to go away and be done,
and I think he did. We'll get into what he
said about it, wanting to be a lesson for his son.
But I also, I think interestingly for me, I have
two girls, but I wouldn't have wanted them to see
(15:28):
you giving up or giving into someone who was being
a bully if they were completely in the wrong. I mean,
if there was some sort of dispute, I would be
willing to hear, but if I knew for a fact
that I got the ball fair and square, there's absolutely
no way I would want my daughters to see me
back down because someone was bullying bull And this.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Is not at all a criticism of the day in
the least because his point during the interview was that
the lesson in that moment he was trying to teach
was a de escalation. Yeah, and that's great. To de escalate,
to get this over with. This is how I'm going
to resolve it. And he did. He got it over with,
and it worked out sure for the kid. De escalation.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Actually, on one way to put my lesson would have
been sarcasm. And I don't think that's good. I think I.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Really, I think she's an a student in that actually,
But I do think it's interesting what he chose to
do versus what we would have done. He actually created
a better moment for his child in terms of because
he gave the ball back. That is why we saw
then the baseball team go above and beyond and give
him his due. It was a beautiful act of humility
(16:38):
and kindness. Honestly, in the moment that I wish I had,
I could say I would have possessed. But I'm pretty
sure I know me and I would not have done that.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And this is where I and we did it with
the US Open, and we've done it in stories past
when fans behaved badly. The tennis player meeting with that
kid that got his hat snatched and signing things and
all that. The Phillies and the Marlins, both teams came
to this kid's aid. This is where sports and teams
often just nail it, They really really get it right.
(17:07):
So I applaud both teams for doing what they did.
The dad did do an interview, a longer extended interview
with a local affiliate. Here were some of the takeaways. Again,
we talked about the de escalation. Here's a quote that's
kind of heartbreaking. Robes. That's what we were there for.
To get a home run ball. Putting it in his
(17:30):
glove meant a.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Lot on his birthday, on his tenth birthday, now, doesn't that?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Now we talked about that, he got to meet the
player and all these things. Now, what do you think?
That's a tough what if? But if you had that
moment with your son, like which moment was more valuable?
He was able to create that moment for your son,
got you a home run ball, he goes homes your
tenth birthday and everything's great, or the alternative, he has
to meet this woman, but then blessings come out of it.
(17:59):
Let that be a lesson to that's all right.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, And he did the thing that actually was.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
The like the christ like thing to do. He just
gave it back to her and blessings and blessings came.
And and I do think that there's a lesson in
that because I again, I you know, I just don't
think I would have made that same choice. And I
think he made the right choice. I think it was
a beautiful choice that he made. And even knowing how
much it meant to his son to have been able
(18:24):
to do it in that moment, that's that's a big deal.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
The other thing he said during the interview, and this
is where humility or I'm just blown away, to be
honest with you, sometimes the kindness of people. But he
said that two other fans, well I didn't know this,
came over and gave us on a ball after the
incern That's awesome. They came over and gave I guess
they were coming. I assume coming from somewhere else who
had gotten a foul ball came and gave balls. Two
(18:50):
other people did that.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
That is so so, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
But then Roles, he still didn't have anything negative to
say about this woman.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
No, he didn't. He said, I don't want her life
to be ruined. He said, she brought that on. She's
gonna pay for that, and it's not by my hand,
so you know, I mean, it's not that he wants
it for her, but he's seeing it happening in real time.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
But he had an opportunity to bash her and he
did not. And the interviewer asked, would you accept the
ball if she wanted to apologize and give you the
ball back? He said yes. But the reason he said yes,
he said, would be out of respect for her. He said,
given the person that I know, she is, giving it
back would be really hard for her.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Right because he said, I thought this was kind of funny.
He said that he was thinking that she might still
have had a good night, like she didn't go home
and feel bad about it or feel guilty about it.
He felt like, just with her attitude, that she might
have gotten that ball and felt like, haha, it's mine.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
And then had a good night.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
But still after all that, he didn't Basher said, I
would take it out over respect for her giving it back. Now,
I don't mentioned alcohol earlier. If she had a drink,
not accusing, and that certainly wouldn't excuse.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
No, it's not an excuse for any crime.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
But what about this robes if this is a defense
at all, tell me if it lessens it for you.
If in that moment she had no idea the ball
was for a kid. What we see is her taking
a ball, and the story is that ball is for
a ten year old kid who was celebrating his birthday.
(20:28):
But if you take the kid out of the scenario,
and this woman actually does think that a grown person,
another adult and a man just took a ball that
she felt that she had, would that change anything.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
No, because she didn't have it. So I mean that
is the rule. If it was in her hand and
he came and snatched it out of her hand, we'd
all have seen that.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
We don't know what was in the scrum underneath behind
the chair.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
But it ultimately ended up in his hands a hundred percent. So,
and what I know what you're saying about her not
realizing it was potentially for a little boy. But when
she walked over there, huffing and puffing, once she saw
that it was in his son's glove, then was the
moment to go.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
You know what?
Speaker 1 (21:19):
What if it was the heat of the moment she
didn't even notice.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Molded out of his son's glove to give to her,
how could she not have seen that.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
I'm trying here.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
It wasn't even in his hands.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
He actually threw both of his hands up on his
chest because he was so surprised by her, clearly without
a ball in his hand. So I'm sorry, I'm just
not going to be able to back you up on
that defense of her.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Well, I'm trying to find anything to explain why someone
would do what she did.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Uh, Ego, pride and just entitlement.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
People have bad moments. She is getting to see hers
over and over and over for again. This is a
happy ending. This is a happy story. It is not
really about the worst in people, but just how good
people are when we see something like that. I got
(22:14):
nothing else. I have no way to defend this lady.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
No, I don't think it is defensible, and I think
the only I think really the big silver lining here
is that Lincoln had an amazing tenth birthday, and even
though he saw one person act really badly, he saw
hundreds of others or at least dozens of others act amazingly.
So it's just it's a restoration in the goodness in
most people and a recognition that there are bad apples
(22:39):
out there. And you know what, to those folks who
act that way, they create their own misery, They create their.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Own prison of sorts.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
And I don't wish anything ill for this woman, but
I hope, I hope that this could be a breakthrough,
a moment where you turn your life around, you decide
to act differently and be different. And I do believe
that people can change, and there sometimes has to be
huge moments of even humiliation where you hit rock bottom
and then you say, wow, I need to be different.
So there could be actually everyone could win at the
(23:09):
end of this, And I think it's just a lesson
that sometimes i'd like to in all tragedies, when when
things don't go the way you want them to, I
just feel like that's when people rise up and you
see all the community around you, and those are the
moments to cherish.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
And I cherish these moments that we all come together,
like not just because we hate her, but universally, we
could look at something and go, that's not right, Like
there's no argument necessarily, there's no gray area. Right what
just happened? And we have to be better than this.
And we're seeing so many incidents and maybe this would
will put people on notice in crowds, so many cameras,
(23:50):
and you can become instantly infamous. Yeah who wants that?
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yeah, and you can't.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Your reputation is one of those things it's really hard
to get back once it's gone. Like I said, she's
probably gonna be called Karen for the rest of her life.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
What her name really is Karen?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Well, I always feel feel really bad for people whose
name is Karen.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
It's tough, all right, folks. For Amy, I'm TJ. Se
Ser
Hey there, folks. It is Sunday, September the seventh, and
we have a Phillies Karen. That is what she's being called.
That is the person that everyone is directing their ire
towards these days. But we are going to try and
to find a way right now to defend Phillies Karen.
(00:22):
And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and
TJ Robes. You have been looking at this video repeatedly
right before we came on and got in front of
these mics.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah, and when you said we're going to defend I'm
gonna take issue with that.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You're already backing away from it.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I never agreed to defend her.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
You are separating yourself from this woman immediately.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yes, okay, because I thought from what I saw, it
was just it was awful and it actually made me
feel sick to my stomach to watch.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It was gross.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
That's what I wanted to ask. Can you give me
an emotional reaction? We can break down and elements of
what we see, what she should have done, couldn't have done,
But how did you feel look like an emotional reaction?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
What was it anger?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Like? I actually felt like I wanted like and I
actually wanted to do, like I wanted to push her.
That's just it was like stop or you just want
to slap her, like what are you doing? Or like
maybe honestly, a really fun thing would have been to
do whilch is hold up a mirror, let her see
her face and what she was doing and how she
was acting like she couldn't see herself, and I'm now
(01:29):
the interesting thing is she can see herself if she
so chooses, because the video of her doing what she
did is everywhere.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
And what does she think of it when she sees it? Folks,
Probably at this point you all have seen or heard
about what happened at a Philadelphia Phillies versus Florida Marlin's game.
This game was on Friday. The incident as we can
describe Philadelphia excuse me, yeah, yeah, Phillies player hits a
home run, goes into the second deck. Everybody scrambles for
(01:58):
the home run ball. We have seen it happen a
million times, and people scramble for them and we'll see
who comes out with it. But it's always a mad scramble. Fine,
there was a scramble for a ball. A man comes
out with the ball, holds it up. You can tell
he's pretty proud that he got it, walks directly over
to his son and almost slams it down in his
son's glove. You could tell he was just so excited,
(02:19):
like he took no moment of joy with that ball
for himself. He went directly to his kid.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
He couldn't wait slam, Yes, he couldn't wait.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Well, seconds later and the cameras stay on this moment,
this is all happening on live television. Seconds later, a
woman comes down the aisle to the man and immediately
starts berating him. Now we couldn't tell what she was
saying from the video. Initially berating the man, and he
frankly roes he was startled in a way that was
(02:50):
almost startling to see him jump in that way. He
looked like he had just gotten caught in the conjuring four.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, he recoiled.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
He completely scared the hell out of here.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
He was definitely scared.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
His jaw kind of dropped and he pulled his hands
in a defensive motion. He was not expecting that at all,
So to me, that almost speaks volumes where we'll get
into who had the ball first or what. But she
claims she had the ball. There was no part of
him where it looked as though he knew or he
thought he had taken a ball from someone. He was
(03:21):
kind of like, wait what because he was so sure
that he had gotten the ball clean and fair.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
You know, you're right. It looked like he was getting
caught up in real time about an incident that he
wasn't aware it took place. Correct, right, So she's yelling,
she's berating him. This goes on for ten plus seconds probably,
and he's trying to say something to her or explain
something to her, and then eventually he reaches into his
son's glove, takes it from his son, hands it to
(03:48):
the woman and kind of gestures and points and you
can tell, just go away, just get away. She goes
back to her seat. Now videos show up online and
robe she is getting handily and someone say, some would
say deservedly roasted.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
She certainly is.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
There were two girls I believe who were behind while
this was all happening and decided to record it on
their phones and immediately uploaded it. So within minutes this
thing was everywhere and obviously was on live national television
as well. So there were two different there were actually
several angles, so once you go online you can see
it from many, many, many different angles, and you can
(04:29):
actually hear her say you.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Took it from me. It was in my hands.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
But people have gone back and looked at the video
from the actual ball coming in and they all go down,
so it's hard to see. But it was second. I mean,
it did not look like there was. There was no
struggle between or among There were three people who went
to go for the ball. There was another man, this woman,
this Karen, and then the man, the father, and.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
He popped up with the ball in like a second. Yes,
there was no struggle.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
That's a good point. He was not pulling it from anyone.
There was no scuffle. It looked like everybody was going
for something. He was the fast one. Yep, it's exactly
what it looks like. But still, even if her pinky
had touched the ball, she doesn't have the right to
the ball. This happens all the time. We've seen this
in court cases, right when people fight over home run
(05:20):
balls and who had it a home run ball, there's
worth millions of dollars somewhere who's in possession of it?
He is clearly he didn't take it from her. We
don't have to argue about that. But still we get
to this point so we can hear what she's saying,
and there's several angles. Everybody's going off on her. And
then what happens. She has a moment she could have
(05:42):
she could have gone and had a second thought, she didn't.
She ends up leaving the stadium, leaving the area in
short order, according to the dad, But the Marlins team
hears about it some kind of way. They bring him
out a goodie bag for the kid who was celebrating
his birthday. The home run hit her from the Phillies
(06:02):
meets him later gives them a signed bat. So all
of that, I know, we look at this and we
see we shake our heads and made what's wrong with us?
What's wrong with people? But then the reaction lets you know, oh,
people are actually really good.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Right. You might have one person who acted badly, but
the majority of the people are were on the side
of the dad and the son. And you know, the
reason why the Marlins saw it so quickly is because
those girls posted it immediately, and so word got around
very very very quickly. When it went viral, like within minutes, well.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
In the dad said, well, yeah, it was shown in
the stadium.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
True.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
He said, people were booing incessantly at this woman.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, they were calling her a Karen from immediately. They
were calling her a Karen. She and that's probably why
she left, because there was actual visceral responses happening in
the stadium within moments.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
The dad described as well later in an interview. We'll
tell you some more about his comments, but to that
exact moment, he said, there was a man sitting with
this woman. He said it might have been her husband,
but he had his head down. He was embarrassed, and
he was the one who got up previously. He got
up before she did and left. He didn't want any
to be near her. He said, she's got up and
start yelling and saying something nasty to him. So this
(07:13):
was kind of an ugly like you.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Should be on my side, you should be standing by me,
And he was like yeah, no, and yeah. Karen was
trending how quickly and it's still trending right now.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
I mean this I haven't checked in the basket of
a lot. When I got up this morning, it was
still number one trending Karen about this woman. Now little
disturbing here is that one of the Google trending topics
was this Phillies Karen identity. Oh wow, people are trying
(07:45):
this was a specific Google trend, a top trend. Folks
are trying to find out who she is.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
We are not going to say a name here on
this podcast, but there is a name or maybe a
name or two floating around. Not sure if they've got
it right or not, but whoever that person is is
getting a lot of heat their way. There are places
they believe she works are getting heat coming their way.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
There have been some places of employment that have actually
put out statements saying that's not the Karen. That employee
is not who you think she is in having to
try and deny. So, I actually can't imagine. Look, she
behaved terribly in front of cameras, but I cannot imagine
what she is probably experiencing today. And yes, there are
(08:35):
tenacious folks who almost certainly will find.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Out who she is.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
She had a very distinctive haircut and hair color and
a very distinctive and yes we all can see exactly
who or what she looks like.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
So anyone who knows her is going.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
To know that is who the mysterious Karen is on
the video, So it's just a matter of time if
they haven't already put it out there.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
But what should we do with that? What should we
do with that information? What should we do with her?
Other than what?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
No, we shouldn't want anything with that. No, I don't
want anything to happen to her. What should happen is
that hopefully she will learn from this, Hopefully she'll realize
how bad her behavior was. Hopefully she'll make amends. It
would be amazing if she apologized to the father and
the child. It would be amazing if she gave the
ball back, even though luckily the boy already got a
ball on a bat, but still from the principle of
(09:26):
the matter, and so that would be my hope that
she actually takes initiative to go do the right thing,
and not necessarily in front of cameras, but just behind
the scenes, repairs what she can, and then goes on
and becomes a better person. But for anyone to single
her out and somehow make her life miserable or hell
by saying or doing things about her online, then we're
just as bad as she is. You know. I just
(09:46):
would never want to encourage anyone to. That's just it's
not for us to decide. And frankly, I feel like
just all this attention in her circle, you know, it
doesn't matter if maybe even anything major happens or but
everyone who knows her is good to know. She's that woman.
She's gonna be called Karen for the rest of her life.
There's probably no way to avoid that. She is going
(10:07):
to suffer. She already is suffering the consequences.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I I always try to reserve a moment here for grace,
for allowing for somebody having a bad moment. And I
can't remember their names right now, but at the US
open the hat snatcher right, Yes, that incident for me
was easier right because it was a split second. It
was a split you don't get. You don't get a
(10:32):
moment to think about what happened, or should I He
saw the hat go and just snatched and got it
for his kit. Fine, this woman had time, she had
time to think, she had time to cool down, she
had time to reflect, She had time to do so much,
(10:52):
and so do you. Alcohol is not an excuse. I
didn't see her with a beer in her hand or
any other drink. But does it change anything. If you say, hey,
that's a that's a Phillies fan who is drinking at
a game. Should we go Ah?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, no, I think that that baby behavior needs to
be called out. But I don't think that she needs
to be in some way. I mean, I know they're
saying they want her band. People are asking for her
to be banned from the games permanently for life. People
are saying she should be arrested.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I don't think it rises to that level. He chose
to give her back the hat, she chose to yell
at him. He chose to be the bigger man, and
that's amazing. There was a lesson in that for everybody.
But do you think do you think that behavior requires
further punishment.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Then she's getting Now? No, I just don't And I
don't know this woman. She might be an angel in
the rest of her life and just had a bad moment,
or she might be an awful person and everybody would
testify under oath that she is. I don't know. But
because I don't know, I'm trying to err on the
side that she just had a bad moment. I am
(11:59):
I'm I'm desperately trying to err on that side. Yep.
And it's hard to do, but there is robes one
one way I could go about possibly defending her, and
I will explain that in just a moment. And also
we do want you to hear what the dad said
in an extended interview he did with a local Philadelphia affiliate,
(12:23):
and again he reassures us that yes, maybe there are
some good people out there, all right, folks defending the indefensible.
If you have not seen the video yet of this,
(12:44):
do we even call her that? It even Phillies Karen.
I don't have another name for her.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yes, I mean it kind of is like Jane Doe,
but now we know it's Philly's Karen.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Okayen, Yes, who barked her way into getting a home
run ball from a kid who was trying to celebrate
his tenth birthday.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yes, that makes it even worse.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Celebrating his tenth birthday and she took a ball from him.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
It's kind of a perfect birthday. You get a home
run ball. You can't beat that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Well, now he's the talk of the town. He goes
back to school his birthday, everyone knows where he was
and everyone knows how he celebrated I mean, he did
get a bat, another ball, and a lot of attention,
which is great.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I'm not saying that he should have.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Had to go through what he went through, but I
do think it probably turned out to be one of
the most memorable birthdays of his life.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Sweet, you make a good point. The game was Friday.
Monday is going to be his first time to go
to school.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Since he's going to be he's gonna be like, yeah,
strutting back into school, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I didn't ask you this, though. What would you have
done as that parent?
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I would not have given her the ball?
Speaker 1 (13:56):
What how would you have reacted?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I would have said, Mammy, need to cal him down,
which would have made her even more angry.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
You think you would have said it that calmly.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, I think so, because I would have seen that
she was so out of control and so out of
place and so not in the right that would have
actually given me the confidence to remain calm. I would
have almost laughed, like, you need to calm down.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I don't know why. I think you would have responded angrily.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Oh, I would have said you need to calm down,
but with a sneer. Yes, you, what would you have done.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I might have laughed, but knowing cameras, I would have
stood my ground, if you will, and dared this woman
to shout in the face of a grown man who
was not going to be physically intimidated by her. I
would have kept a smile on my face the whole time.
I probably would have taken the ball from my child
(14:53):
and I said, oh, this ball, Oh no, you're not
getting this one. If you want to get a last
look at it or anything, it's cool.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah, we're going on a picture with it.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Maybe I would have gone sarcastically that far.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yes, with that lady, I believe that, But neither one
of us would have given her the ball back. No, no,
I would not have either, absolutely not. Look and I
understand he wanted it just to go away and be done,
and I think he did. We'll get into what he
said about it, wanting to be a lesson for his son.
But I also, I think interestingly for me, I have
two girls, but I wouldn't have wanted them to see
(15:28):
you giving up or giving into someone who was being
a bully if they were completely in the wrong. I mean,
if there was some sort of dispute, I would be
willing to hear, but if I knew for a fact
that I got the ball fair and square, there's absolutely
no way I would want my daughters to see me
back down because someone was bullying bull And this.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Is not at all a criticism of the day in
the least because his point during the interview was that
the lesson in that moment he was trying to teach
was a de escalation. Yeah, and that's great. To de escalate,
to get this over with. This is how I'm going
to resolve it. And he did. He got it over with,
and it worked out sure for the kid. De escalation.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Actually, on one way to put my lesson would have
been sarcasm. And I don't think that's good. I think I.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Really, I think she's an a student in that actually,
But I do think it's interesting what he chose to
do versus what we would have done. He actually created
a better moment for his child in terms of because
he gave the ball back. That is why we saw
then the baseball team go above and beyond and give
him his due. It was a beautiful act of humility
(16:38):
and kindness. Honestly, in the moment that I wish I had,
I could say I would have possessed. But I'm pretty
sure I know me and I would not have done that.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And this is where I and we did it with
the US Open, and we've done it in stories past
when fans behaved badly. The tennis player meeting with that
kid that got his hat snatched and signing things and
all that. The Phillies and the Marlins, both teams came
to this kid's aid. This is where sports and teams
often just nail it, They really really get it right.
(17:07):
So I applaud both teams for doing what they did.
The dad did do an interview, a longer extended interview
with a local affiliate. Here were some of the takeaways. Again,
we talked about the de escalation. Here's a quote that's
kind of heartbreaking. Robes. That's what we were there for.
To get a home run ball. Putting it in his
(17:30):
glove meant a.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Lot on his birthday, on his tenth birthday, now, doesn't that?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Now we talked about that, he got to meet the
player and all these things. Now, what do you think?
That's a tough what if? But if you had that
moment with your son, like which moment was more valuable?
He was able to create that moment for your son,
got you a home run ball, he goes homes your
tenth birthday and everything's great, or the alternative, he has
to meet this woman, but then blessings come out of it.
(17:59):
Let that be a lesson to that's all right.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, And he did the thing that actually was.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
The like the christ like thing to do. He just
gave it back to her and blessings and blessings came.
And and I do think that there's a lesson in
that because I again, I you know, I just don't
think I would have made that same choice. And I
think he made the right choice. I think it was
a beautiful choice that he made. And even knowing how
much it meant to his son to have been able
(18:24):
to do it in that moment, that's that's a big deal.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
The other thing he said during the interview, and this
is where humility or I'm just blown away, to be
honest with you, sometimes the kindness of people. But he
said that two other fans, well I didn't know this,
came over and gave us on a ball after the
incern That's awesome. They came over and gave I guess
they were coming. I assume coming from somewhere else who
had gotten a foul ball came and gave balls. Two
(18:50):
other people did that.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
That is so so, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
But then Roles, he still didn't have anything negative to
say about this woman.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
No, he didn't. He said, I don't want her life
to be ruined. He said, she brought that on. She's
gonna pay for that, and it's not by my hand,
so you know, I mean, it's not that he wants
it for her, but he's seeing it happening in real time.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
But he had an opportunity to bash her and he
did not. And the interviewer asked, would you accept the
ball if she wanted to apologize and give you the
ball back? He said yes. But the reason he said yes,
he said, would be out of respect for her. He said,
given the person that I know, she is, giving it
back would be really hard for her.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Right because he said, I thought this was kind of funny.
He said that he was thinking that she might still
have had a good night, like she didn't go home
and feel bad about it or feel guilty about it.
He felt like, just with her attitude, that she might
have gotten that ball and felt like, haha, it's mine.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
And then had a good night.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
But still after all that, he didn't Basher said, I
would take it out over respect for her giving it back. Now,
I don't mentioned alcohol earlier. If she had a drink,
not accusing, and that certainly wouldn't excuse.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
No, it's not an excuse for any crime.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
But what about this robes if this is a defense
at all, tell me if it lessens it for you.
If in that moment she had no idea the ball
was for a kid. What we see is her taking
a ball, and the story is that ball is for
a ten year old kid who was celebrating his birthday.
(20:28):
But if you take the kid out of the scenario,
and this woman actually does think that a grown person,
another adult and a man just took a ball that
she felt that she had, would that change anything.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
No, because she didn't have it. So I mean that
is the rule. If it was in her hand and
he came and snatched it out of her hand, we'd
all have seen that.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
We don't know what was in the scrum underneath behind
the chair.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
But it ultimately ended up in his hands a hundred percent. So,
and what I know what you're saying about her not
realizing it was potentially for a little boy. But when
she walked over there, huffing and puffing, once she saw
that it was in his son's glove, then was the
moment to go.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
You know what?
Speaker 1 (21:19):
What if it was the heat of the moment she
didn't even notice.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Molded out of his son's glove to give to her,
how could she not have seen that.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
I'm trying here.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
It wasn't even in his hands.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
He actually threw both of his hands up on his
chest because he was so surprised by her, clearly without
a ball in his hand. So I'm sorry, I'm just
not going to be able to back you up on
that defense of her.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Well, I'm trying to find anything to explain why someone
would do what she did.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Uh, Ego, pride and just entitlement.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
People have bad moments. She is getting to see hers
over and over and over for again. This is a
happy ending. This is a happy story. It is not
really about the worst in people, but just how good
people are when we see something like that. I got
(22:14):
nothing else. I have no way to defend this lady.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
No, I don't think it is defensible, and I think
the only I think really the big silver lining here
is that Lincoln had an amazing tenth birthday, and even
though he saw one person act really badly, he saw
hundreds of others or at least dozens of others act amazingly.
So it's just it's a restoration in the goodness in
most people and a recognition that there are bad apples
(22:39):
out there. And you know what, to those folks who
act that way, they create their own misery, They create their.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Own prison of sorts.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
And I don't wish anything ill for this woman, but
I hope, I hope that this could be a breakthrough,
a moment where you turn your life around, you decide
to act differently and be different. And I do believe
that people can change, and there sometimes has to be
huge moments of even humiliation where you hit rock bottom
and then you say, wow, I need to be different.
So there could be actually everyone could win at the
(23:09):
end of this, And I think it's just a lesson
that sometimes i'd like to in all tragedies, when when
things don't go the way you want them to, I
just feel like that's when people rise up and you
see all the community around you, and those are the
moments to cherish.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
And I cherish these moments that we all come together,
like not just because we hate her, but universally, we
could look at something and go, that's not right, Like
there's no argument necessarily, there's no gray area. Right what
just happened? And we have to be better than this.
And we're seeing so many incidents and maybe this would
will put people on notice in crowds, so many cameras,
(23:50):
and you can become instantly infamous. Yeah who wants that?
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yeah, and you can't.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Your reputation is one of those things it's really hard
to get back once it's gone. Like I said, she's
probably gonna be called Karen for the rest of her life.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
What her name really is Karen?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Well, I always feel feel really bad for people whose
name is Karen.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
It's tough, all right, folks. For Amy, I'm TJ. Se
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