Baseball is America’s pastime, and is one of the few sports where it’s so common to get a baseball from a home run, foul ball, or player simply throwing it up to you in the stands, that it almost appears that a baseball is a collectible with no value. So why would anyone want to collect baseballs for a living? A man named Zach Hample, once regarded by Conan O Brien, as “the worst man in America,” is profoundly known as a baseball super fan and has “snagged” a total of over 11,000 baseballs in 57 Major League Baseball Stadiums. So, before you judge the man of depriving others with the opportunity to catch a ball, lets get to know the story of the man, the myth, and the baseball snagger, Zach Hample.
Born in 1977, Zach Hample is a native New Yorker who has spent nearly his entire life catching and collecting baseballs from major league stadiums. Zach is a baseball fanatic, author, public speaker, and as he puts in his bio on his website, “www.zachhample.com,” an infamous nerd.” Growing up, his dad would take him to games and initially, his goal was to just catch one. As time went on, his goal to catch one slowly turned into not just a love and passion for the game itself, but a mission, to catch more baseballs than any other person had ever caught. On September 10th, 1993, Zach caught a baseball at a game that would start a historic streak for him. In 2017, Zach caught a baseball that would be his 1,000th consecutive game in doing so. Hample has been on multiple baseball pregame shows, radio broadcasts, and late night talk shows including those of Conan O Brien and Jay Leno. Many fans of the game marvel at his determination and passion around the game and his remarkable knack for “being at the right place at the right time”. But, some have a different view and feel that he is attention seeking, selfish, and as Conan O Brien put it, “the worst man in America”. For many this reputation of a selfish, self centered human took a new height on the day of June 19th, 2015.
On June 19th, 2015, Alex Rodriguez, former shortstop and third baseman for the New York Yankees knocked his 3000th hit into the right centerfield stands of Yankee Stadium. The ball went from the hand of pitcher Justin Verlander, to the bat of Alex Rodriguez to the hand of, you guessed it, Zach Hample. Hample was shown on the TV broadcast shortly after the ball landed into his glove screaming in excitement of the moment and the commentators of the game felt that he would willingly give-up the milestone ball for a feat that is extremely rare in the game of baseball. Much to the surprise of the commentators on the Yankee’s Entertainment and Sports Network, media members, and fans, Hample would hold onto and walk out of Yankee Stadium that night without giving the ball to the Yankees organization. This act, blew up the media outlets as this was a milestone baseball in a storied and successful career for Alex Rodriguez, and the man who caught the milestone ball, selfishly, wanted to keep the ball for himself as he stated, “its worth more than my entire collection of balls”. Many fans and sports talk show’s called out sample for being selfish, and disrespectful to not just Alex Rodriguez, but the Yankee Organization for refusing to give the ball back to the team. In other sports like football, a player is usually the one that catches or is carrying a ball during a milestone, or record setting prefromeance, so it is easier for the organization to retain and give or keep the ball or puck within the organization. However, in baseball, if a milestone hit goes into the stands, it’s the fan who has the power in the decision whether to keep or give the ball back depending on how much security intervenes with that fan. As Zach was continuing to receive what some sports talk show hosts claimed as “unwarranted publicity” he eventually made the decision two weeks later to return the baseball to Alex Rodriquez and the Yankee Organization. In exchange for the baseball being returned to the Yankees, the team gave ample a check for $150,000 which was donated to the charity, Pitch in for Basbeball.
Love him or hate him, Zach Hample is a passionate collector of baseballs and continues to attempt to add to his collection today. Hample, currently has a business where he will drive people to baseball games, along with helping them catch a baseball at a Major League Baseball Stadium. Hample’s journey of collecting is long and filled with varying opinions on his intentions of making collection of baseballs his entire life. But at the end of the Day, he is just like you and I, and has found a passion that he hopes to continue and share with other fans of the game many still regard as, “America’s pastime”.
Below is a video posted by Major League Baseball, that profiles Zach Hample, and discusses his collection of baseballs, why he does it, and his thoughts on why he feels baseball is America’s pastime:
Zach Hample Vs The World
The G.O.A.T. 