Often when a big milestone is broken in baseball, it is very commonplace for the ball used to break the milestone be returned to the person who broke the record.
When Alex Rodriguez hit a home run into the right field seats of Yankee Stadium on Friday for his 3000th hit of his career, naturally there was a made scramble for the valuable souvenir. The fan who recovered the ball was sought out by Yankee personnel so that a trade could be made, so that A-Rod could get the ball back, but it looks like the fan has no intention of giving the ball back to Rodriguez.
Zack Hample, the Yankee fan who was lucky enough to get his hands on the ball, had some very candid remarks when asked if he would make an exchange with Rodriguez (standard protocol in these situations).
Season ticket holder Zack Hample of NYC caught the HR ball. Claims to have caught Trout's first HR & last HR at Shea pic.twitter.com/Rvecr6b5xT
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 19, 2015
Sounds as if he wants to make money off the ball. I don't think A-Rod will be getting a freebie like Jeter did
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 19, 2015
I don’t blame the guy for wanting to make a few dollars off the ball personally, I probably would do the same thing in his situation. The quotes on why he is keeping the ball get a bit interesting.
Hample:"Someone like Jeter & Rodriguez whose made half a billion dollars in their career doesn’t really need a favor from a normal civilian"
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 19, 2015
Interesting way to look at it. I get the whole idea of athletes making a ton of money over the span of their career, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t appreciate a keepsake like a 3000th hit ball getting returned to them. Things like that have sentimental value and can’t really have a price put on them.
Said his initial intention was not to give the ball back because, "the guy who got Jeter’s 3,000th hit, a lot of people called him an idiot"
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
I’m sure they did call him an idiot. In his case though he was such a huge fan of the Yankees, that he just wanted to make sure Jeter got the ball back and I won’t knock the guy for it.
Hample says Yankees offered him tons of memorabilia and promotion, but he turned them down. He has returned to his seat
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
This is typical protocol, I am curious to know what all was offered once Hample started making it clear he wasn’t going to give the ball back.
Says he is not fond of A-Rod because of how he tarnished the game. "If I want to sell it, he’s welcome to come bid on it at auction."
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
"And if I choose to keep it, well he has the bat that he used, he has the helmet he was wearing, he has the jock strap that he was wearing."
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
This is a bit of a douche comment by Hample. I get you want to keep the ball and all that, but don’t be a prick about it.
Says he caught Trout's his first career HR ball and gave it back for nothing: "With A-Rod, I don’t think he deserves charity or sympathy."
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
Again, Hample being a Class A douche about the whole situation.
Said he doesn't have price in mind he would accept from A-Rod:"He's not going to offer me a million dollars. If he did I would consider it."
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
Strong quote from Hample: "It's kind of like well, I don’t like you and I have something you want and you cant have it." Continued….
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
"I wanted you to not take steroids and be the greatest of all time and you disappointed me. I still respect A-Rod, hes an amazing player…
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
….and I think he is pretty fan friendly but I have to hang on to this ball right now."
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 20, 2015
Look here, I’m not a Yankee fan by any stretch of the imagination, and I as a fan of the game I certainly wasn’t happy about A-Rod getting popped for steroids. With all that said, I sympathize with him not getting his 3000th hit ball back because it just happened to land in the hands of the biggest jerk in the stadium today.
Again, I’m not knocking Hample for wanting to make a profit off of the ball, but he came off as a complete asshole because it was A-Rod who hit the ball and he wanted to send a message. I would have him much rather just been quiet about why he decided to keep the ball and gone about his business, but instead he decided to be a douche and make sure A-Rod knew that he was a douche.
Maybe I’m all alone in feeling this way, but it just rubs me the wrong way. How you feel about A-Rod not getting the home run ball back? Fair or Foul?
