An Interview With The Man Who Caught A-Rod’s 3000th Hit, Zack Hample

Most Memorable Moments

Patrick Hennessy: So, you have caught over 9000 baseballs throughout your life while attending games, are there any in particular that are most special or memorable to you?

Zack Hample: I would say the last Mets home run ever hit at Shea Stadium is the most meaningful one to me, even more than A-Rod’s 3000th hit because I grew up as a Met fan and even though I don’t have a favorite team anymore, Shea Stadium was kind of like my second home for a long time… and the last home run that the Mets ever hit there happened to be the only home run that I ever got during a game at Shea Stadium. So, you know with A-Rod, that ball just represented one player’s accomplishments but the Mets home run kind of represented an entire organization so for me that’s really the most meaningful one.

Patrick Hennessy: I see, so do you even remember when and where you snagged your first baseball?

Zack Hample: I got my first baseball at Shea Stadium in June of 1990.

Patrick Hennessy: Wow, so it has been a while…

Zack Hample: It sure has been

Patrick Hennessy: How did this all start? Have you always had a passion for snagging baseballs?

Zack Hample: It began really before I caught my first ball. When I watched baseball on TV as a very little kid and I saw baseballs fly into the crowd and the TV cameras would zoom in on the fan who got them, celebrating like crazy and I just basically wanted to experience that someday so that’s when the passion began… and then years later when I got my first ball, it’s like it multiplied from there. I wanted it so bad, not just one, I wanted another, and another and another.

Patrick Hennessy: So basically it became like an obsession?

Zack Hample: It definitely became an obsession.