31 Facts About Zack Hample

Zachary Ben Hample was born on September 14,1977 and is an American baseball collector.

Zack Hample has been criticized by sportswriters, players, and fans due to his aggressive tactics to collect baseballs.

Zack Hample is the son of author, performer, playwright and cartoonist Stoo Hample.

Zack Hample developed an interest in baseball at the age of five.

Zack Hample played Division III baseball for the Guilford Quakers while studying English at Guilford College.

The first baseball that Zack Hample caught at a game was at Shea Stadium in 1990.

Zack Hample has described his interest in catching foul balls as "a passion".

Zack Hample developed a device for catching balls at stadiums made out of a baseball glove, rubber band and pen.

Zack Hample publishes videos about baseball and ballhawking on YouTube, where he had nearly 600,000 subscribers.

Zack Hample operates a "concierge service", escorting fans to games and catching balls with them.

In 2008, Zack Hample caught the last Mets homerun hit at Shea Stadium.

Zack Hample caught the first career home runs of Mike Trout and Mike Nickeas, and Barry Bonds' 724th home run.

In June 2015, Zack Hample caught Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th career hit, which was a home run.

Zack Hample initially refused to return the ball on Twitter, saying Rodriguez "deserves nothing".

Zack Hample personally received an autographed jersey, two autographed bats, a VIP backstage tour of the stadium and tickets to the 2015 MLB All-Star Game and Home Run Derby as part of his deal.

Zack Hample later removed a video about the incident from his channel and posted an apology.

Zack Hample has written several books about baseball, and previously wrote for MiLB.

Zack Hample's second book Watching Baseball Smarter is an introduction to the mechanics and rules of baseball, and was mostly well received by critics.

In 2011, Zack Hample published his third book, The Baseball: Stunts, Scandals, and Secrets Beneath the Stitches, which chronicles the history of baseballs.

Zack 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.

Zack Hample announced on Twitter that he was attending the game, and would donate $100 for every ball he collected to a charity for military veterans.

Zack Hample came under widespread criticism for taking the ticket, and because he had publicly offered $1,000 to buy one.

Zack Hample claimed to have caught eleven balls at Fort Bragg and given ten away.

Zack Hample has been accused of bumping multiple fans children out of the way in attempts to catch balls.

On July 2,2012, Zack Hample attempted to catch a baseball dropped from a helicopter 1,000 feet above LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Zack Hample then caught baseballs dropped from heights of 562 feet and 822 feet before the Federal Aviation Administration called off the stunt due to strong winds.

On July 13,2013, Zack Hample made another attempt at LeLacheur Park and succeeded in catching a baseball dropped from an altitude of 1,050 feet.

Zack Hample began working with Pitch in for Baseball and Softball, a non-profit charity that provides baseball and softball equipment to underprivileged children, in 2009.

Zack Hample had raised over $200,000 for the organization as of 2019.

Zack Hample raises the money 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.

Zack Hample's family owns and operates Argosy Book Store, and was the focus of the 2019 documentary The Booksellers.