A few weeks back I wrote a column on the dangers of social media in response to the infamous couple that was caught having an affair thanks to the Coldplay kiss cam over the summer. Well, social media struck once again last week and I have to address it.

Most of you have seen it by now, but there was an incident at the Marlins-Phillies game regarding a home run ball.

In short, a Phillies player hit a home run into the stands, a man grabbed the ball and gave it to his son, then a woman that was in the scramble to chase the ball got in his face and demanded the ball, claiming that she deserved it since it landed closer to her. The father obliged, handed her the ball, and now she has become the internet’s biggest villain.

Moments after the incident, the Marlins staff hand delivered a gift bag to the kid and apologized, then the Phillies welcomed the boy and his family to their clubhouse and gave him a signed bat by the player that hit the homer. The kid actually made out pretty darn well all things considered. 

The woman on the other hand, boy, has she paid the price. She is getting the same treatment as the Coldplay couple. It has been meme’s galore, some funny, some hateful. The video, along with several other videos that were caught by cell phones have now been viewed by millions. There was a point the following day that she and the incident were the highest-trending item on X, formerly Twitter. 

When the Coldplay couple was outed and embarrassed, I saw that as a terrible situation because each had families with children. I did not feel sympathy for them because their decision to cheat in front of 70,000 people was egregious, but I felt sorry that their families were dragged through the mud with them.

This on the other hand? I’ll admit, and maybe I’m being childish, but I love that justice has been served.

Let’s get something straight, when it comes to balls hit in the stands at games, there are two unwritten, yet cardinal, rules to abide by. Rule 1: Unless the ball is firmly in your grasp, it is up for grabs. Rule 2: If you are 18 years or older, you must give the ball to a child. That’s the etiquette, that’s your obligation. 

In this case, the woman failed to follow each rule. Sure, the ball was hit closer to her than the man, but he acted swiftly and snatched the ball right off the ground. It’s his, plain and simple. Then, of course, he handed it to his 10-year-old son who we later found out was there celebrating his birthday. The fact that she demanded the father to pull it out of the kid’s glove and return it is wretched, immature, and selfish. She was at the game with another man, so it’s not like she had a child of her own.

To make matters worse, more videos leaked in the hours ensuing. Everyone in her section heckled her and at one point she got in the face of a fan, screaming at him, and then flipped the bird to everyone and walked out of the park. She really doubled down on the villainy and turned full heel.

This woman deserves to be called out, she deserves to go viral for the wrong reasons. Now, people have been viciously searching for her name and have not had any luck, which I will admit is a bit much. Her private life should remain private. But, publicly? She deserves to be shamed. 

Running around a ballpark screaming at people, flipping the bird, all over a child getting to keep a home run ball? It’s absurd. I hope that every day she looks at that ball she cringes knowing that she has become public enemy number one. My favorite fan image was her Photoshopped as a green witch flying a broomstick with the ball in her hand. Internet trolls have also been giving her nicknames, most of which I can’t put in print. One that I can, though, that I thought had a nice ring was “Karen Ballsnatcher.” 

One angle of the story that I have struggled with is the treatment of the father online. There has been a fierce debate on whether or not he did the right thing by returning the ball to the woman. Some feel that he showed weakness and failed to teach his son how to be assertive. Others feel that he did the right thing and demonstrated restraint and took the high road. The family was on TV a few days later to speak about the night and he explained that he simply wanted to get her away from his family ASAP and was willing to part with the ball to do so.

I see both sides of the argument and have no idea how I would react in the heat of the moment. If I had to choose, I’d say he made the right call. They were in public at a televised event with a strange woman screaming in his face and causing a scene. There are ways to make it up to the kid. Had he held his ground, who knows what chaos would have ensued with that woman. A baseball just isn’t worth it. 

All that said, the internet continues to be a wild place. It has its good days and bad days, and I’d call that a good one. Again, there are limits to consequences and I do believe the woman has paid the appropriate price. However, let this be a reminder once again that we need to all be on our best behavior while out in public. The internet is always watching.