Atlanta Braves field reporter Wiley Ballard went viral on Monday for asking for a female fan’s phone number while thousands of baseball fans watched from home.
The Braves visited the Toronto Blue Jays for a night game at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. With the Braves leading the Blue Jays 4-0 in the top of the 5th inning, the FanDuel broadcast cut to Ballard in front of two women sitting at the stadium’s exclusive Corona Rooftop Patio.
Instead of asking about baseball or the stadium experience, Ballard conducted the interview like he was trying to score a date. He broke the ice with a generic pick-up line.
“You guys hang out at the rooftop lounge often?” Ballard asked.
Ballard then tried to ask Braves-related questions to the women who appeared to be Blue Jays supporters. Before sending it back to the booth, he claimed he was going to “get to work.”
A few moments later, the broadcast cut back to Ballard taking out his phone. He told one fan named Lauren that the broadcast booth had wanted him to get her number. He claimed he was simply following orders.
“Alright, so they want me to get your number,” Ballard followed up. “I’m dead serious.”
While the Braves were trying to score runs, their sideline reporter was out here scoring digits.pic.twitter.com/Zdt1CdNc3g
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 15, 2025
Lauren eventually did give Ballard her number.
While some fans found Ballard’s segment amusing, the Braves reporter did draw some negative criticism for putting the girl on the spot. It’s harder to say no to someone’s advances with thousands of eyeballs watching. Many fans also joked that Lauren likely gave Ballard a fake number.
Kind of sucks for her to be put on the spot like that. Unprofessional to say the very least. Hopefully she actually wanted to give him her number.
— Ryan (@BaseballGuyRyan) April 15, 2025
He just got the number to a local pizza restaurant.
— Interstate2025 (@Interstate2025) April 15, 2025
$50.00 says she gave him a bogus number!
— Daniel Burton (@LordDarkMaga) April 15, 2025
Ballard wasn’t the only member of the Braves organization to score on Monday night. The Braves themselves outscored the Blue Jays 8-4 to improve their record to 5-11.
