Karen Index: How many fans would snatch a foul ball from a kid?

Being a baseball fan isn’t always a walk in the ballpark. From stressful games to disappointing performances and packed stadiums, there’s a lot to juggle. Still, there’s one ball a lot of us dream of catching: a foul ball. And some fans will do whatever it takes to get one… even if it means elbowing a kid out of the way.

This season alone, plenty of stories hit the news about so-called “Karens” going all-in for that precious souvenir ball, sometimes at the expense of heartbroken kids in the stands. Cue the online outrage. But how much of a Karen lives in all of us? In The Grueling Truth’s 2025 Karen Index, 2,000 baseball fans revealed which fanbases have the most ballpark heroes — and which ones are a little more Karen-esque.

Our findings:

• Over 1 in 5 U.S. baseball fans admit they’d go for the ball, even if a kid was reaching for it too.
• Athletics fans have the highest share of “Karens”: 36% say they’d give it their all to snag that ball.
• Pittsburgh Pirates fans are the chillest — only 10% admit they’d fight for a foul ball.

“If a foul ball was coming your way and a kid was reaching for it too — would you go for it?” That’s the question we asked 2,000 baseball fans from across the country. Even though a lot of people get worked up over fans who throw themselves after a ball without a care for anyone else, it turns out that 1 in 5 (22%) would go for it themselves when push comes to shove. Of those, 3% said they’d actually try even harder to snag the ball if the kid was rooting for the other team.

Men turn out to be more eager than women when it comes to catching a foul ball. On average, 27% of men say they’d go for the ball without hesitation, compared to 15% of women.

Top baseball fanbases for snagging foul balls

But which fanbase has the most supporters who go all in the moment a baseball comes their way? Athletics fans take the crown. Over 1 in 3 (36%) Athletics fans say they’d go for the ball, even if a kid is reaching for it. That puts them just ahead of the runner-up: Toronto Blue Jays fans, who score a “Karen” percentage of 31%. Tied for third are supporters of the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs, both at 29%.

Pittsburgh Pirates fans are the most laid-back about foul balls

On the other hand, only 10% of Pirates fans say they’d go for the ball — the lowest percentage of all fanbases. Kansas City Royals fans don’t seem too worried either, with just 13% admitting they couldn’t resist snagging that ball. Rounding out the bottom are Tampa Bay Rays supporters, who have a modest “Karen” score of 14%.

Methodology

To find out how many baseball fans would try to catch a foul ball even if a child was reaching for it, The Grueling Truth commissioned an online survey in October 2025. The survey polled 2,000 baseball fans nationwide, asking about their favorite MLB team and presenting a multiple-choice question on whether they would go for a foul ball if a child was also reaching for it, with the following options: “No, I’d let the kid have it, no matter their team”, “No, I’d let the kid have it, unless they’re rooting for a rival”, “Yes, I’d grab it, no matter their team” and “Yes, I’d grab it, especially if they’re rooting for a rival”. Of all respondents, 56% identified as male, 43% as female, and 1% as non-binary. The average age of respondents was 44.5 years.