Zack Hample
| Zack Hample | |
|---|---|
 Hample with his baseball collection in 2008 |
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| Born | Zachary Ben Hample September 14, 1977 New York, NY |
| Occupation | writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Genres | sports |
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www.zackhample.com |
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Zachary Ben Hample (born September 14, 1977, son of Stoo Hample and Naomi Cohen) is an American sports writer and Major League baseball collector. He is best known for having caught more than 5,000 baseballs in the stands at Major League stadiums.
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[edit] 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 part-time 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.
[edit] Baseball Collection
As of October 28, 2011, Hample has collected 5,819 baseballs from 48 different Major League stadiums. He acquired his first ball from a Mets reliever at Shea Stadium on June 20, 1990, snagged his 3,000th ball by using his famous baseball glove trick at Yankee Stadium on May 7, 2007, and set a personal, one-game record with 36 baseballs at Great American Ball Park on September 14th, 2011. Hample caught Barry Bonds' 724th career home run at PETCO Park on August 16, 2006 and caught the first home run of the 2007 Home Run Derby, hit by Justin Morneau at AT&T Park. On May 28, 2011, Hample caught an Alex Rios batting practice home run ball for his 5,000th baseball at Rogers Centre.
During the final week ever at the old Yankee Stadium, Hample gained worldwide recognition by catching home run balls on consecutive nights. On September 16, 2008, he made a leaping catch on a Jason Giambi home run and immediately celebrated with a goofy dance that was captured by the TV cameras. The following night, in nearly exactly the same spot in the right field bleachers, Hample reached far over a railing to make a backhanded catch on a Johnny Damon home run and celebrated with the same dance. The Yankees' announcers quickly recognized him from the previous game, and within the next 24 hours the story was covered by ESPN, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN International, Japanese TV, and many other media outlets. Yahoo! Sports initially acknowledged Hample's baseball-snagging skills, but did not know that it was he who had made the catches.[1] Less than two weeks later, on September 28, 2008, Hample caught the last home run ever hit by a Mets player at Shea Stadium, this one off the bat of Carlos Beltran On October 8, 2008, Hample made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and followed that nearly a year later with an appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Prior to Hample's three notable home run catches of 2008, he had been featured on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and on an episode of the John O'Hurley version of the game show To Tell The Truth, during which he managed to trick the audience and two of the four celebrity panelists.[2]
On April 21, 2011 Hample caught Mike Nickeas' first major league career homerun. Also, on July 24, 2011 Hample caught Mike Trout's first major league career homerun.[3]
[edit] Charity work
Since 2009, Hample has been raising money for Pitch In For Baseball, a non-profit charity that provides baseball equipment to underprivileged children all over the world.[4] With help from his friends and fans, who pledge money for every baseball that he snags at Major League stadiums, Hample has raised more than $20,000.
[edit] 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)[5] and Arkanoid (1,658,110 points).[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Fan In Right Place at Right Time on Two Straight Nights (Yahoo! Sports)
- ^ Appearance on "To Tell The Truth" (YouTube)
- ^ Angels: Meet the Guy who caught Trout's homer (Today)
- ^ Charity press release (www.pitchinforbaseball.org)
- ^ All-time Breakout high scores (www.twingalaxies.com)
- ^ All-time Arkanoid high scores (www.twingalaxies.com)
