{"id":2594971,"date":"2026-04-25T09:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T13:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mlb-umpire-chases-down-robbery-suspect-who-took-his-phone\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T09:20:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T13:20:28","slug":"mlb-umpire-chases-down-robbery-suspect-who-took-his-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mlb-umpire-chases-down-robbery-suspect-who-took-his-phone\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Umpire Chases Down Robbery Suspect Who Took His Phone"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmlb-umpire-chases-down-robbery-suspect-who-took-his-phone%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2594971&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An article from The Western Journal reports that MLB umpire Brock Ballou\u2019s cellphone was stolen during a Philadelphia theft spree. The piece notes that Ballou, who has umpired in the majors for four years, was in Philadelphia for a Phillies-Diamondbacks game when a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dc-officials-released-man-accused-of-assaulting-dem-congresswoman-less-than-two-months-ago\/\" title=\"DC Officials Released Man Accused of Assaulting Dem Congresswoman Less Than Two Months Ago\">suspect robbed<\/a> a 7-Eleven in Center City, assaulting a clerk. About half an hour later, the same person grabbed Ballou\u2019s phone as he was checking directions. Ballou chased the thief, and the two collided at 16th and Walnut, during which Ballou was punched several times; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abe-lincoln-statue-vandalized-with-poop-paint-arrested-suspect-is-a-black-lives-matter-leader\/\" title=\"Abe Lincoln Statue Vandalized With Poop, Paint; Arrested ... Is A Black Lives Matter Leader\u00a0\">suspect fled<\/a> after the phone fell to the ground, and a bystander recovered it and returned it to him.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the incident, Ballou worked behind home plate two days later in the Phillies-Diamondbacks game. The report cites coverage from CBS News and Fox News,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-is-reportedly-investigating-ex-trump-official-who-debunked-the-russia-collusion-narrative\/\" title=\"DOJ Is ...edly Investigating Ex-Trump Official Who Debunked The Russia Collusion Narrative\">including statements<\/a> from Philadelphia Police Captain Jason Smith about the confrontation. The article also portrays Ballou as both a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >capable crime fighter<\/a> and a solid umpire, noting his season accuracy of 94.1% on balls and strikes, with four challenged calls overturned, according to Ump Scorecards data. The Western Journal\u2019s Michael Austin published the piece on April 25, 2026.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n <?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<header> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/news\/\"> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tNews\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>MLB umpire Brock Ballou looks on at a game between the San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park on Aug. 3, 2025. (Orlando Ramirez \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/maustin\/\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t&nbsp;By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/maustin\/%20\"><span>Michael Austin<\/span><\/a>  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>  \t\t\t<span> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t&nbsp;April 25, 2026 at 4:30am\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t<\/header>\n<section>\n<p>Major League Baseball umpires usually pay attention when bases are stolen &mdash; but apparently not when their cell phones are stolen.<\/p>\n<p>Brock Ballou, who has been an umpire with the MLB for four years, was in Philadelphia on April 9 for the game between the Phillies and the Diamondbacks, per a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/philadelphia\/news\/mlb-umpire-assaulted-robbed-philadelphia-phillies-series\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>Ballou found himself tied up in an alleged crime spree that began when the suspect entered a 7-Eleven in the Center City neighborhood and allegedly stole multiple items.<\/p>\n<p>A store employee was punched several times in the process.<\/p>\n<p>About half an hour later, the suspect grabbed Ballou&rsquo;s phone while he was holding it to look at directions.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">PHILLY ATTACK: MLB umpire robbed and punched to the ground by suspected teen in Center City, police say. A bystander recovered Ballou&rsquo;s stolen phone. He worked home plate two days later. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zt8drFt7wz\">https:\/\/t.co\/zt8drFt7wz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Fox News Sports (@FoxNewsSports_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FoxNewsSports_\/status\/2044867749953015958?\">April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&ldquo;The suspect approached the male and snatched his cell phone out of his hands,&rdquo; Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith told CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>But Ballou refused to be a victim of the crime.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The victim went chasing after the male, at which time they got involved in a physical altercation at 16th and Walnut,&rdquo; Smith added.<\/p>\n<p>The suspect also allegedly punched Ballou multiple times when he tried to take back his phone.<\/p>\n<p>Ballou incurred some injuries, though they were not serious.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-past-time-to-stop-thistreatment-of-police-officers-chicagos-top-cop-speaks-out-after-officers-alleged-murderer-arrested\/\" title=\"\u2018It\u2019s Past Time To Stop This\u2026Treatment Of Police Officers\u2019: Chicago\u2019s Top Cop Speaks Out After Officer\u2019s Alleged Murderer Arrested\">suspect gave<\/a> up, running away without the phone, which had fallen to the ground during the scuffle.<\/p>\n<p>A passerby picked it up and gave it back to Ballou.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the altercation, Ballou had a successful overall trip in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>He was behind home plate just two days after the robbery as the Phillies and the Diamondbacks faced off, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/mlb-umpire-brock-ballou-violently-punched-head-robbery-assault-philadelphia?intcmp=xpal_sports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from Fox News.<\/p>\n<p>Ballou is both a solid crime fighter and a solid umpire.<\/p>\n<p>He has correctly called 94.1 percent of balls and strikes this season, with all four challenges against his calls being overturned.<\/p>\n<p>That makes him better than the average umpire, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/umpscorecards.com\/data\/umpires\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data<\/a> from Ump Scorecards.<\/p>\n<p>Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ump Ballou chased a thief; the phone was recovered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2594972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Featured-Image-966.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[62310,12138,3736,12304,27274],"class_list":["post-2594971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-chase-2","tag-mlb","tag-phone","tag-robbery","tag-umpire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Featured-Image-966.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2594971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2594971"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2594971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2594975,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2594971\/revisions\/2594975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2594972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2594971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2594971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2594971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}