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The controversy over a Philadelphia Phillies fan who demanded that a father give her a home run ball during the team’s game against the Miami Marlins continued to stir.
Fans irate at the woman who marched over to the father who took the ball and gave it to his young son tried to find out who she was. It created an internet rumor that pointed to a woman named Cheryl Richardson-Wagner.
A detailed view of a Philadelphia Phillies hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning at Truist Park on May 23, 2023. (Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports)
She pushed back against the venomous online hate with a hilarious post on Facebook.
“OK everyone … I’m not the crazy Philly Mom (but I sure would love to be as thin as she is and move as fast) …. And I’m a Red Sox fan,” she wrote.
A New Jersey school district also had to put out a firestorm of online salaciousness.
The Hammonton School District put out a statement, saying no one from their schools was fired.
Philadelphia Phillies’ Harrison Bader, right, celebrates with Max Kepler (17) after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
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“The woman identified on social media as ‘Phillies Karen’ is not, and has never been an employee of the Hammonton Public Schools located in Hammonton, New Jersey,” the district said. “Anyone who works for our school district, attended as a student or lives in our community would obviously have caught the ball bare-handed in the first place, avoiding this entire situation!”
The Phillies fan did receive the ball from the family she stormed up to during the Phillies and Marlins game.
The father, identified as Drew Felwell, gave the ball to the woman after all. He explained why in an interview with NBC Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Harrison Bader (2) celebrates with right fielder Max Kepler (17) after hitting a solo home run against the Miami Marlins during the fourth inning at loanDepot Park on Sept. 5, 2025. (Sam Navarro/Imagn Images)
“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,” he said.
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https://www.foxnews.com/sports/woman-quells-internet-hate-after-being-misidentified-phillies-karen-im-red-sox-fan
