Countless resurfaced fan moments from the Major League Baseball have gone viral yet again as the Internet turns for a semblance of positivity and goodness in the wake of two recent souvenir sports ball-stealing moments contentiously making headlines on social media.

Internet users dug up a years-old treasure trove to remind themselves of the goodness of humanity shortly after an enraged Philadelphia Phillies fan was nicknamed the “Phillies’ Karen,” as footage of her throwing a tantrum at the Friday game in Miami went gained mind-boggling attention on X.

The woman, who has yet to be formally identified, took major issue with a father securing a home run ball centre fielder Harrison Bader smashed into the stands. Multiple fans jumped up to tussle for the ball, but ultimately a man secured the souvenir for his young son standing a few seats away.

Why are baseball fans suddenly looking for heartfelt stadium moments – Thanks to Phillies Karen

The ‘Phillies Karen,’ or as many are also calling her ‘Baseball Karen’ and ‘Cruella’ in some posts, furiously walks up to startle the man enjoying an affectionate moment with his son. She’s then seen in the video confronting the man, demanding that the ball belonged to her instead. In order to avoid a full-blown out argument, the father picks the ball out his son’s glove and hands it to the woman in question.

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While social media continues to share conflicting speculations about the woman nicknamed ‘Phillies Karen,’ another camera angle further showed her flipping off the entire section where she was seated after snatching the ball away from the other man.

This week’s incident, in turn, comes days after Polish CEO Piotr Szczerek admitted to making a “huge mistake” at the US Open, where he snatched a signed cap from a young boy’s hand without a second thought.

Wholesome baseball fan moments resurface

One such video gaining a second life on social media in light of the recent developments features Houston Astros racing over to retrieve a foul ball in the stands. The ball ends up landing in a rather-deserted section of the game venue, allowing the young fan to climb over numerous rows of seats to secure the souvenir. Simultaneously, a young girl follows suit and tries her best to catch up with the young man ahead of her.

However, the fan wearing former baseball pitcher Jarred Cosart’s jersey wins the race. The over-exhilarated fan’s reaction is palpable from across the screen, as he throws his fists in the air after grabbing the memento, screaming out in uncontrollable excitement, ready to walk back to his seat while the young girl watches on after her failed attempt.

Despite the loud display of victory on the young man’s part, he graciously turns around to the little girl sitting atop one of the seats they just climbed over and hands over the ball to her without a word. As he politely walks off, it’s then the girl’s turn to rejoice. Holding up the hand she has the ball in, she enthusiastically rushes over to her seat, presumably to show off the souvenir to her family.

Social media users seem to have collectively turned back the pages of MLB history, as the wholesome video reduced many into a puddle of tears. The official Major League Baseball page originally shared the video twelve years ago on September 4, 2013 (IST), showcasing a once-of-a-kind moment from the Minnesota Twins vs Houston Astros showdown dated September 3, 2013.

Tweeting a snippet of the video in question, a user wrote on X this week, “This is how grown adults are supposed to act.” Many others continued to take a dig at the ‘Phillies Karen’ and Polish CEO controversies, presenting the more than a decade-old MLB video as a contrasting living life lesson.

Yet another X thread witnessed the re-emergence of the same 2013 video as an ‘Autism Capital’ page on the platform shared the update that the Friday match had flipped in the favour of the young boy who lost the home run ball at the hands of ‘Phillies’ Karen.’ With many bystanders having seen what had happened in the stands, the little kid ended with a signed bat from Harrison Bader himself. But that’s not all, as the previously lost-opportunity also brought him face to face with the star athlete in the locker room area as well.

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“We need people like this,” another user commented under the update. They plugged the same snippet of the young girl being handed the foul ball in 2013. Someone else chimed in, “This man did it right. He got it. Then he gave it to the kid and made her day. He won twice.” A third user added, “Not all heroes wear capes!!”

Certain other similar videos prompting positively affectionately responses from baseball fans and netizens alike included a 2017 video showcasing a Red Sox fan gifting the ball he caught to a little girl, who happened to be a Yankees fan. She eventually came back to hug the man, touching everyone’s hearts in the vicinity.

A third video from 2022 snapped a Blue Jays fan catching an Aaron Judge home run ball. He ended up giving it to the young boy named Derek Rodriguez in a viral moment. The overwhelmed young fan was moved by the man’s generosity to such extent that came down to hug the elder fan.

Even at the time, the clip led thousands to tweet it with the message “If you’re having a crappy day, watch this,” as per ESPN. The then-viral video again gained traction on social media last week in the aftermath of the Polish CEO debacle at the US Open.

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And now, a fourth clip of the same nature, though originally shared by the official MLB account in three years ago, similarly resurfaced on X last week. The heartwarming snippet is bound to bring big smiles to everyone’s face, as it shows a fan catching a baseball and cheering on his victorious moment. Seconds later, with a smile on his face, he tosses the ball to a kid sitting a couple rows down from him.

As the game progresses, the young fans fortunately secured another baseball. Instead of keeping both the balls, he chose to reciprocate the gesture and threw one back to the man who gave him the ball earlier in the game.