If you haven’t heard by now, and who hasn’t, Zack Hample is the lucky fan in the right field bleachers at Yankee Stadium who happened to catch Alex Rodriguez’s 3000th hit. While for most of us catching a historic ball such as this would be considered lucky, for Hample it is anything but. Hample is inarguably the most prolific ball catching fan ever. He has even literally wrote the book on it. According to his website, Hample claims to have caught over 8000 baseballs at games and has consecutively caught one at 1000 games and counting. His impressive resume has prompted many people to hurl insults at him and make snide remarks about likely tactics he uses to retrieve baseballs. He has predictably been accused of stealing baseballs from little kids, pushing kids out of the way to get baseballs and other wild accusations that I’m sure many of you might think of if/when you hear someone has caught over 8000 baseballs. For his accomplishments, Hample has received a lot of exposure and even been on talk shows such with Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, and Rosie O’Donnell to name a few.
Hample’s notoriety for his impressive track record is just one reason why him catching the A-Rod 3000th hit baseball has become a big story. The other reason is because he has yet to give it back to the Yankees and Rodriguez. According to his website, the Yankees offered him to “meet A-Rod, have my own press conference, be interviewed on the YES Network during a game, receive all kinds of free tickets, and get loads of memorabilia including signed balls and bats and jerseys”. Hample opted to decline the offer and instead take some time to consider his options, a reasonable decision for a guy who was suddenly in possession of one of the most significant baseballs of the past decade. After all, A-Rod was only the third player to homer on his 3000th hit. The last guy to do it was also a Yankee. In 2011, Derek Jeter homered in Yankee stadium for his 3000th hit. A man named Christian Lopez was the lucky fan to catch the ball and unlike Hample, Lopez opted to return the ball to the Yankees in exchange for a similar package to that which Hample declined. To Yankee fans and A-Rod himself, Hample is no Christian Lopez, and his failure to return the ball so far has led to substantial public backlash towards him.
If you are one of those people that hate Zack Hample because he didn’t accept the Yankees offer or think of him as some mean child-pushing, ball-stealing meanie, STOP IT! Hample isn’t a bad guy and everything you think about him is wrong. I’m here to tell you why.
Firstly, Zack Hample does not push little kids, nor does he steal baseballs from anyone, let alone little kids. Ive never met Zack Hample but I feel pretty confident in saying this. Go look at his Youtube channel yourself, just as I did and you will see countless videos of him snagging baseballs and not once instance of him stealing baseballs from children or pushing them out of the way to get a ball. Go watch videos such as this one or this one and you won’t see any instances of him acting this way towards children. In fact Hample is frequently seen giving some of his baseballs away to children that were not able to catch any. Hample is just great at what he does and uses a variety of techniques to get baseballs. Among some of his strategies, Hample has learned how to ask for baseballs in seemingly every language, uses his famous “glove trick” and wears attire for both teams. Go watch the videos, Hample is not mean towards kids. He gives many baseballs away to children, more than probably you or I do. Let’s stop with this inane narrative placed on Hample simply because he catches many baseballs at games.
More evidence that you shouldn’t hat Zack Hample, Hample uses what notoriety he has gained through his accomplishments and his successful books to raise money for charity. That charity is Pitch In For Baseball and according to their website, they “provide new and gently used baseball and softball equipment to boys and girls in the United States and around the world who want to play ball but lack the equipment to do so”. Hample encourages people to pledge money for each home run ball he catches, and since 2009 he has raised over $39,000 dollars for this charity. It is clear this charity means a lot to Hample. In interviews such as this one, and this one, among many others, Hample can be seen promoting his charity. In fact, since Hample caught the A-Rod baseball and has been promoting his favorite charity in his countless interviews he has done, web traffic for Pitch In For Baseball has skyrocketed. Hample isn’t a bad guy, and we should be applauding him for raising money and bringing attention to this charity rather than mock the guy and make accusations that are not true.
Hample has since softened his initial stance and is now in discussions with the Yankees to potentially return the baseball in exchange for the Yankees making a donation to Pitch in for Baseball. This is only more evidence that Zack Hample is not the terrible guy that many people are making him out to be. He shouldn’t have to return the baseball for people to stop hating him, and he definitely doesn’t have to do it for charity, but Hample seems to be heading that way. Zack Hample doesn’t push or steal from children. He takes what he does seriously and is just better at it than anyone else. He raises money and uses his fame to bring awareness for Pitch In For Baseball. It’s about time people stop hating Zack Hample if you don’t already. You shouldn’t have in the first place.
