For the first time, one of Philadelphia’s most popular baseball stars, Nick Castellanos, has spoken out on the ‘Phillies Karen’ controversy and sent the unidentified woman a message. 

It has been two weeks since a woman in the stands of a Phillies game against the Marlins in Miami demanded a home run ball be hers, moments after a father handed the object to his son after a scramble in the bleachers. 

The moment has gone viral since, with many criticizing the fan, who has yet to be revealed publicly. 

The Phillies eventually gave the fans who had the ball taken a prize package and a meet-and-greet with Harrison Bader. 

Castellanos believes ‘Phillies Karen’ had a motive beyond being entitled for her actions. 

‘When I see that, I don’t just see a ball. I see a very frustrated lady,’ Castellanos said on Mookie Betts’ show internet show. ‘For years, that felt like she’s been getting the s***-end of the stick and now this thing happened, and she’s like, “I’m not finishing second here. I need this for me.”‘

Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos sent a message to ‘Phillies Karen’ weeks after the viral incident

 Castellanos believes the identified woman had other motives for acting how she did in Miami

In the initial incident, the woman could be seen yelling at fan Drew Feltwell after he’d given a home run ball to his son.

‘That was ours,’ she yelled at him. 

After he gestured to his son, who he’d given the ball to, the man tried to explain that she didn’t actually catch the souvenir. 

Nonetheless, he ultimately decided to give the ball to the woman .

‘Just trying to set an example of how to de-escalate a situation in front of my son, I guess,’ he later told NBC 10 Philadelphia.

Castellanos himself has developed a lore for hitting home runs during memorable moments for others, including minutes after Alex Ovechkin broke the all-time goal scoring record in the NHL back in April, as well as hours after Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election as President.  

The social media hunt for ‘Phillies Karen’ is still ongoing, as multiple women who have been accused of being her have made public denials. 

One seemingly innocent woman got caught in the crossfire the day after the incident as speculation across X saw users claim the woman’s name was ‘Cheryl Richardson-Wagner’ and inevitably, it sent people on the hunt for her Facebook page.

The woman didn’t see the loose ball as fair game, but rather claimed she had it in her hand

Hammonton Public Schools later poked fun at the situation after being involved on social media

But it appears the social media rumors are mistaken. A woman called Cheryl Richardson-Wagner herself was forced to put a statement up on her page insisting she was not the person that sparked the scenes.

‘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.

To underline her final point, she changed her Facebook cover photo to the Boston Red Sox crest. She also commented underneath one of her posts, telling her friends people had been sending her angry messages. 

A New Jersey school district also was forced to deny that one of their employees is the ‘Phillies Karen’.  

A post on Facebook alleged she was a ‘school administrator’ from New Jersey and had been fired from her job. But in reality the Hammonton Public Schools denied one of their employees was ever involved.

They posted on Facebook: ‘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.’

‘Social media and news reports indicating that she is, are incorrect.’

‘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.’