The Foul Ball Everyone Is Talking About
In early September 2025, a viral moment at a Philadelphia Phillies game captured the attention of millions online. It wasn’t the home run itself that became the headline—it was the drama that unfolded in the stands afterward.
Harrison Bader launched a homer into the seats, where it was caught by a father named Drew Feltwell, who promptly handed the ball to his son, Lincoln, as a birthday gift. For a brief moment, it was the kind of wholesome story we love to see at the ballpark: a dad, a son, and a treasured memory sealed with a souvenir from the game.
But that joy was quickly interrupted. A woman, now infamously dubbed “Phillies Karen,” confronted the family and demanded the baseball, claiming it should belong to her.
Eyewitnesses and video footage show her shouting, gesturing wildly, and even physically touching the father during the dispute. In an effort to avoid escalation, Drew reluctantly handed over the ball.
Fortunately, the story didn’t end there. Marlins staff, seeing what had happened, gave Lincoln a bag of memorabilia to cheer him up. And Harrison Bader himself later met with the boy and gave him a signed bat, restoring some justice to the situation. Still, the ugly confrontation resonated with people everywhere—and not just because of the baseball. At its heart, it was a powerful, real-world parable about entitlement, property, and the difference between earning something and demanding it.
The Libertarian Lesson
Libertarians often talk about property rights as the foundation of liberty. Without secure ownership of what you rightfully earn or acquire, freedom becomes meaningless. A baseball caught in the stands may seem trivial, but the principle is not. The person who catches the ball—fair and square—is the rightful owner. There’s no gray area. That’s the unwritten, universally accepted rule of the game.
When the woman attempted to take the ball by intimidation and force, she became a living example of what happens when entitlement overrides respect for property. She didn’t earn it. She didn’t catch it. Yet she felt she was owed it, simply because she wanted it badly enough. This mindset mirrors the collectivist philosophy that underlies socialism: the idea that what you have should be redistributed, not because you consent, but because someone else claims a right to it.
Libertarianism rejects this outright. We defend voluntary exchange, not coercion. If the father and son had freely chosen to gift the ball, that would have been generosity. But when someone demands it and pressures you to hand it over, that isn’t generosity—it’s theft dressed up as entitlement. The Phillies incident demonstrates this truth in vivid, undeniable terms.
From the Stands to Society
Zooming out, the “Phillies Karen” moment is a microcosm of a broader societal problem. Politicians, activists, and bureaucrats often operate just like the woman in the stands. They see what someone else has and decide that fairness requires redistribution. Instead of applauding the catcher of the ball—the entrepreneur, the worker, the creator—they demand that the fruits of that labor be handed over to someone else.
And just like in the stands, this creates resentment, conflict, and a sense of injustice. When people are denied the fruits of their labor, when their property is seized because someone else feels entitled to it, the spirit of liberty dies.
The lesson is simple: whether it’s a home run baseball, your paycheck, or your personal freedom, what you earn is yours. Entitlement does not create ownership. Wanting is not the same as deserving.
Don’t Take My Ball
That’s why we created the “Don’t Take My Ball” parody shirt. Modeled after the classic Gadsden flag, it replaces the coiled snake with a boy holding up his baseball in defiance. Just as the original flag declared, “Don’t Tread on Me,” this design sends the message: “Don’t Take My Ball.”
It’s a reminder that liberty begins with property rights, and that resisting entitlement—whether from a screaming fan in the stands or from an overreaching government—is at the heart of the American spirit.
In the end, one kid’s birthday at the ballpark became more than a sports story. It became a libertarian parable, reminding us all to protect what we earn, stand firm against coercion, and never let anyone take our ball.
👉 Get the shirt here: Philly Karen Parody, Don't Take My Ball Shirt
