Occupation Writer Role Writer Nationality American Education Guilford College | Genre Sports Parents Naomi Cohen, Stoo Hample Name Zack Hample | |
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Born Zachary Ben Hample
September 14, 1977 (age 46)
New York, NY ( 1977-09-14 ) Books The Baseball: Stunts - Sc, Watching Baseball Smarter, How to Snag Major League B, The Art of Snag: A Fan's Gui Similar People Stoo Hample, Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe | ||
Zack hample ballhawking at busch stadium
Zachary Ben Hample (born September 14, 1977), known as Zack Hample, is a Major League baseball collector. He is known for his claim that he has collected more than 10,000 baseballs from major league stadiums in North America, including Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th career hit and Mike Trout's first career home run. Hample has faced criticism from sportswriters, players, and fans, some of whom have pointed out that he has been seen bumping children out of his way in efforts to grab baseballs, as well as the fact that he did not want to return Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th hit ball to him. He eventually did, under the condition that the New York Yankees donate $150,000 to a charity, Pitch in for Baseball. His mother is Naomi Hample, and his father was writer Stoo Hample.
Contents
- Zack hample ballhawking at busch stadium
- Zack hample ballhawking at u s cellular field
- Baseball collection
- Writing
- Charity work
- Helicopter stunt
- Criticism
- Fort Bragg Game
- Video games
- Rubber band ball
- References
Zack hample ballhawking at u s cellular field
Baseball collection
Hample claims to have collected more than 10,000 baseballs from 53 different Major League stadiums as of August 31, 2017, including 54 game home runs.
Writing
Hample has written three books. The first, How to Snag Major League Baseballs, was published by Simon & Schuster in 1999 when he was a junior at Guilford College. The second, Watching Baseball Smarter, was published by Random House in 2007 and was the 8th best selling American sports book that year. His third book, The Baseball, also published by Random House, was released on March 8, 2011. Hample, a writer for minorleaguebaseball.com from 2005 to 2007, contributed the foreword to Major League Baseball: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports in 2008 and wrote the introduction for Baseball Scorekeeper in 2011.
Charity work
Since 2009, Hample has been raising money for Pitch in for Baseball, a non-profit charity that provides baseball and softball equipment to underprivileged children all over the world. With help from his fans, who pledge money for every baseball that he snags at Major League stadiums, and from BIGS Sunflower Seeds, who sponsored him during the 2013 season, Hample raised more than $190,000 through the 2016 season. In July 2015, Hample gave Alex Rodriguez the ball from his 3,000th hit in exchange for the Yankees donating $150,000 to Pitch In For Baseball.
Helicopter stunt
On July 2, 2012, Hample attempted to break a world record by catching a baseball dropped from a helicopter 1,000 feet above LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Massachusetts. Wearing catcher's gear that was donated by Rawlings, Hample established a record by catching a softball dropped from a height of 312 feet. He then caught baseballs dropped from heights of 312 feet, 562 feet, and 822 feet before the Federal Aviation Administration called off the stunt due to strong winds. The 822-foot catch was initially thought to be 762 feet, but a discrepancy in the altimeter settings, which was captured on video and discovered months later, added 60 feet to the altitude. On July 13, 2013, Hample made another attempt at LeLacheur Park and succeeded in catching a baseball dropped from an altitude of 1,050 feet.
Criticism
Hample has attracted criticism from fans and sportswriters, both of which have accused him of bumping fans, including small children, out of his way in his efforts to catch balls.
Clayton Kershaw once refused to give Hample a ball; Hample tweeted that when he asked Kershaw for the ball, Kershaw told him no because Hample already had "7000 of 'em."
Fort Bragg Game
Hample acquired a ticket to the Fort Bragg Game on July 3, 2016 at Fort Bragg Stadium that was meant for active duty military personnel and their friends and families. Despite his pre-game announcement that he would donate money to a veterans charity, this led to a public outcry as Hample is a civilian. The following day, Hample donated $1,100 to AMVETS and posted an apology on Twitter, acknowledging his "lapse in judgment" and "idiotic behavior" and calling his decision to attend a "terrible mistake"; though denying he did anything illegal, he said that by attending, he "clearly violated the spirit of the game."
Video games
Hample, a competitive video game player, appeared briefly in the 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. According to Twin Galaxies, he holds official world records on half a dozen classic video games including Breakout (896 points) and Arkanoid (1,658,110 points).
Rubber band ball
Hample owns a large rubber band ball, which, according to the Daily Mail, he started building at the age of three. As stated on Reddit in 2013, the ball had reached a weight of 250 pounds and was still growing. In 2014 Hample appeared with the ball on the Daily Planet show on Discovery Channel Canada. The ball weighed 259 pounds and bounced more than halfway up when rolled off a forklift from a height of eight feet.