An Atlanta Braves sideline reporter is being criticized for asking for a woman’s phone number during Monday’s game with the Toronto Blue Jays.
At one point during the game, Wiley Ballard briefly interviewed two attendees, Lauren and Kayla, who were at the rooftop patio at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
After a few questions, Braves play-by-play announcer Brandon Gaudin joked to Ballard on air that he had “five innings, four innings to get the numbers.”
Ballard relayed that message to the women, and told them that his colleagues said to ask for their numbers.
“They want you to get my number?” she asked, to which Ballard responded, “I’m dead serious. They’re saying in my ear right now,” before telling his colleagues in the booth that she didn’t believe him.
“She didn’t believe me because she thinks you guys are — I’m making this up,” Ballard explained to Gaudin and Braves color commentator C.J. Nitkowski.
He then realized the move might have applications in the future.
“Even if you guys weren’t — I might use that in the future. That’s actually a pretty good move,” he said.
Nitkowski then acknowledged “the best part of this right now is that Wiley could totally be faking it,” and suggested that walking around a ballpark with a microphone and an earpiece “might be the new move.”
“I should’ve thought of this years ago,” said Ballard, who actually got Lauren’s number, as the video below shows.
The segment has since gone viral, and Ballard commented on it on his X page using an image from the scene in “Good Will Hunting” where Matt Damon brags about getting a girl’s phone number.
HuffPost reached out to the Braves for comment, but no one immediately responded.
However, many people on social media weren’t impressed by Ballard’s very public pick-up technique, with some calling it “unprofessional.”
Unprofessional to the max
— Carla ‘Bluechecked’ Marinucci (@cmarinucci) April 15, 2025Remember when that female college student covering a national championship showed a tiny bit of emotion when her team won and males everywhere talked about how unprofessional she was? Same people today are celebrating this guy.
— In Fickell We Trust (@MadisonMessiah) April 15, 2025Feels like there were several moments in which someone could have said this wasn’t a good idea.
A terrible look all the way around. https://t.co/YkkBtWEot5
Others pointed out the double standard that would happen if a female reporter did the same thing.
Sooooo are we still gonna ask women in sports if they’re only doing their job to date athletes?? We can all agree how inappropriate and nasty this is, not to mention the double standard, right? https://t.co/lDNeaBHsPt
— Dani Sureck (@DaniSureck) April 15, 2025Imagine if a female reporter did anything like this. Career over. Pretty brutal to see it glorified by the broadcast. https://t.co/01A5CAkpP1
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) April 15, 2025To yesterday: If a female sideline/dugout reporter did this , she’d be called horrible names and probably be run out of town. On the other side, here’s a fellow TV anchor basically saying to dude who asked for phone numbers: “My man.” It’s not the same for both sexes. It’s just… https://t.co/v4eJ606yJt
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) April 15, 2025We Don't Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.
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Example #28495 why men get away with the bottom of the barrel content because misogyny is alive and well in sports television. A woman could never and would never without losing their job over this.
Lazy, disappointing, offensive, grimey, I could go on. Yikes all around. https://t.co/JE1ijBpP7J