Even in Philadelphia, where fans wear their unruliness like a badge of honor, there are lines that can’t be crossed. The recent “Phillies Karen” incident in Miami proved it: a woman berating a father until he surrendered a home run ball meant for his son. Phillies fans, who normally revel in their reputation for heckling and hard edges, found themselves recoiling in disgust. There’s tough, there’s passionate—and then there’s bullying a kid out of his once-in-a-lifetime souvenir. For once, the City of Brotherly Love turned on their own.
*** Now chatting in #HomeRunDrama ***
DadWithBall: caught it clean
my kid’s first home run ball
was the happiest moment of his life
K4R3N: THAT BALL IS MINE
I DESERVE IT
I DROVE ALL THE WAY TO MIAMI
DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS IN TRAFFIC
DadWithBall: my kid is literally crying with joy
can you not
K4R3N: GIVE IT TO ME OR I’LL CALL SECURITY
I HAVE SEASON TICKETS
THIS IS PHILLIES COUNTRY
NOT YOUR COUNTRY
DadWithBall: ma'am we're both Phillies fans
as is everyone else in Miami, apparently
DadWithBall: fine
/hands her the ball out of exasperation
K4R3N: FINE
THE KID WILL FORGET THE BALL
BUT I WILL CHERISH IT FOREVER
ALSO I DESERVE FREE HOT DOGS
*** PhilliePhan420 has entered the chat ***
PhilliePhan420: yo
Philly fans are insane but uh…
this is too much even for us
*** HEY GUYS THIS IS JI
*** JIM THOME has entered the chat ***
WORDUPTHOME: HEY GUYS THIS IS JI
JIM THOME
WORDUPTHOME: PHILADELPHIA KAREN
YOU HAVE LOST YOUR ALL-CAPS PRIVILEGES
I HEREBY REVOKE THEM IN THE NAME OF DECENCY
SPEAK LIKE A HUMAN BEING OR BE BANISHED
*** System Notice: K4R3N is limited to lowercase ***
K4R3N: you can’t do that
wait why am i typing normal
what happened
oh no
*** StadiumBoo has entered the chat ***
StadiumBoo: boooooooooooooooooooooo
/throws cheesesteak wrapper
/unites in rare moment of collective shame
PhilliePhan420: phillies fans booed santa
phillies fans booed j.d. drew
but now we’re booing… ourselves
DadWithBall: thanks everyone
except karen
K4R3N: i just wanted attention
guess i got it
WORDUPTHOME: YES, YOU DID
NOW LEAVE THE STADIUM AND REFLECT
PERHAPS WHILE LISTENING TO “PHILLY FREEDOM” BY ELTON JOHN
*** MLB_NewsBot has entered the chat ***
MLB_NewsBot: BREAKING: “Phillies Karen” leaves stadium to chorus of boos
Boy gets to meet Harrison Bader and is given a signed bat
Jim Thome praised for “courageous stand against caps lock abuse”
*** K4R3N has left to yell at a Wawa cashier ***
*** DadWithBall has left to frame the baseball ***
*** WORDUPTHOME has left to found the Caps-Lock Justice Coalition ***
*** StadiumBoo has left but will return the moment a Phillies player strikes out looking ***