Phillies invite young fan to meet Harrison Bader after dispute over home run ball

MIAMI (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies invited a young fan to meet Harrison Bader following their 9-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Friday night after an apparent dispute over a home run ball hit by the center fielder during the game.

Bader hit a solo home run into the left-field stands in the fourth inning at loanDepot Park. Several fans scrambled for the ball before a man came up with it and walked over and gave it to a boy and hugged him. Both were wearing Phillies gear, and it was the boy's birthday.

Moments later, a woman, also wearing Philadelphia apparel, approached and appeared to shout at the man, who then grabbed the ball from the boy's glove and gave it to her.

It isn't clear from videos circulating on social media who initially secured the ball when it landed.

Later in the game, a member of the Marlins' staff gave the boy a prize pack and another baseball as fans sitting near them in the stands cheered. The boy ended up going home with a signed bat from Bader, who met with him outside of the Phillies' clubhouse after the game.

Marcus Lemonis, Camping World CEO and star of CNBC reality TV show “The Profit,” later posted on his X account that he would pay for the young fan and his family to attend the World Series.

“Oh, and you just won an RV as well,” he posted.

The dispute quickly went viral on social media and comes just days after another memorabilia-snatching moment in which a man took tennis player Kamil Majchrzak’s hat from a young fan at the U.S. Open and was widely criticized for the act.

He apologized on social media on Monday and said he has returned it.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Philadelphia Phillies' Harrison Bader (2) gestures to the bullpen after hitting a home run during the forth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Philadelphia Phillies' Harrison Bader, right, celebrates with Max Kepler (17) after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader (2) reacts after striking out during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Rocco Commisso, the outspoken owner of Italian soccer club Fiorentina and chairman of New York-based Mediacom Communications, has died. He was 76.

Both Fiorentina and Mediacom announced Commisso’s death early Saturday without providing a cause.

“After a prolonged period of medical treatment, our beloved president has left us, and today we all mourn his passing,” Fiorentina said. “His love for Fiorentina was the greatest gift he gave himself.”

After making Mediacom into one of the United States’ biggest cable television companies, Commisso purchased Fiorentina in 2019 and became known for speaking out against Italy’s bureaucracy and inability to build new stadiums.

Commisso was born in Calabria and immigrated to the United States at the age of 12.

He also owned the New York Cosmos, and played soccer at Columbia University, the Ivy League school that he continued to support philanthropically. The university’s soccer stadium is named for him.

At Fiorentina, Commisso celebrated reaching the Conference League final in 2023 and 2024.

But the team has struggled this season and is currently in Serie A’s relegation zone.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso gesture to club fans from the field ahead of the Conference League Final soccer match between Olympiacos FC and ACF Fiorentina at OPAP Arena in Athens, Greece, on May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)