Trading-card retailer offers $5,000 to woman who took Phillies home run ball — with one condition

Blowout Cards, a major trading-card retailer, offered $5,000 to the unidentified fan who took a Harrison Bader home run ball from a 10-year-old during the Philadelphia Phillies’ 9-3 win over the Miami Marlins — but only if the woman signs the ball and inscribes “I’m sorry.”

Video circulating on social media showed the ball landing in the left-field stands Friday night and a crowd of fans converging as it bounced among seats. A man, later identified by NBC10 Philadelphia as Drew Feltwell, retrieved the ball, placed it in his son’s glove and hugged the boy before a woman approached, pointed and loudly confronted Feltwell, according to the footage. Feltwell then removed the ball from his son’s glove and handed it to the woman, who walked away with it.

Blowout Cards posted the offer on its website and on X, saying, “We want that ball signed and inscribed by her — and only her, whoever she is — ‘I’m sorry’ so we can simply give it back to the kid. Our offer is official and the offer is firm.” The company did not identify any further steps it would take to verify the signer’s identity.

Feltwell told NBC10 that he and his family were at the game to celebrate his son Lincoln’s 10th birthday, and that acquiring a home run ball was the goal of the outing. “That was what we were there for,” Feltwell said. “I thought I had accomplished this great thing and putting [it] in his glove meant a lot and she was just so adamant and loud and yelling and persistent and I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore.”

A Marlins staff member approached the family soon after the exchange and delivered a gift bag and an apology to Lincoln, social media video shows. After the game, the Phillies brought Lincoln into their locker room, where Bader signed a bat for the boy. The team posted a photo of Bader meeting the family on its X account.

The incident drew national attention and prompted offers of assistance from public figures. Marcus Lemonis, CEO of Camping World and host of CNBC’s “The Profit,” posted on X that he would send the family to the World Series and provide an RV.

The woman’s identity remained unknown as of Monday. Blowout Cards’ proposal requires that she personally sign and inscribe the ball with the specific apology phrase before the company will pay the $5,000 and return the ball to the child. The retailer described its offer as firm in its public posts.

The video and subsequent social-media reaction highlighted questions about fan conduct and the emotional value parents and children place on souvenirs from live sporting events. Teams and stadiums routinely encourage fans to exercise caution and courtesy when prize items land in seating areas; in this case, both the Marlins and Phillies took steps to acknowledge the boy after the exchange.

Blowout Cards’ offer represents an attempt by a private company to resolve the situation publicly while securing an explicit apology on behalf of the child. As of this report, neither the woman nor representatives for Blowout Cards had provided additional public comment beyond the posted offer and the widely shared footage of the incident.