If there was a contest on who could catch the most fly balls in the stands of a baseball game, Zack Hample would far and away be the winner. Hample has caught a countless number of historical home runs, including Mike Trout’s first, Shea Stadium’s last, and Alex Rodriguez’s 3000th hit. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to interview him about both his baseball collection and himself. Contrary to what has been popular belief due to his resisting of giving Rodriguez his 3000th hit, Hample is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He is passionate about the game, and was even a Mets fan growing up! Below are some of the questions I asked and answers he gave me from our interview.
Q1: What is your favorite team?
A: I don’t have a favorite team. I grew up as a Mets fan and I still like a lot of their players and actually know some of them personally, but having been to 51 different major league stadiums in my life, I think I’ve gotten a bit jaded and I just find myself rooting more for individual players and appreciating the sport than really following any one particular team.
Q2: Do you have a favorite player in baseball?
A: I’ve got to go with Mike Trout, which I know sort of sounds like a dumb, obvious choice but I feel extra connected to him because I happened to catch his first career home run, back in 2011 in Baltimore, and I had a nice interaction with him and his family at that game and after the game, and he’s remembered me since then. We’ve crossed paths a few times at numerous stadiums and…yeah, I think I have to go with Mike Trout right now.
Q3: You mention that you caught Trout’s first home run ball. What is the most memorable home run ball you have caught?
A: I think the most memorable and my absolute favorite is the last home run that the Mets ever hit at Shea Stadium. To me, that’s more meaningful in a lot of ways than Alex Rodriguez’s 3000th hit, which was obviously huge and more historic in the grand scheme of things, and got much more attention. But getting attention for this is not really my goal. I know this sounds weird because people see me all over the place and get sick of me, but…this all just started as a far fetched childhood dream…to catch one baseball. It’s kind of grown over the years, and it’s becoming this crazy thing at this point. Having grown up as a Mets fan and having gone to more games at Shea Stadium than any other ballpark, that moment of catching the home run on the final day there was incredible. It was actually my only home run that I ever caught in Shea Stadium. I’m sure Mets fans who are old enough will remember that the configuration of Shea Stadium didn’t really lend itself to catching home runs being there were very few seats in fair territory. You had…one section of seats that extended past each foul pole, so the guys had to hit one right down the line for it to land in the seats and…30 feet high. Other than that, it was either bleachers, which were closed most of the time or sold to groups, so it was almost impossible to get out there. And without being in the bleachers it was pretty much pointless to sit right down the line and hope for a home run there, so I spent most of my time hoping for foul balls behind the plate at the lowest level. I got a lot of them, but I didn’t really start getting out to the bleachers until, maybe half way through the 2008 season. I guess they were selling some individually and some I was able to get a hold of out there. I spent a number of games out there in the bleachers, and it was that very last day that I managed to catch that home run so that’s by far the most excited I’ve ever been for any ball. More excited than I was with the A-Rod ball. I was more stunned with the A-Rod ball, but in terms of just pure bliss and jubilation, definitely the last home run hit at Shea.
Q4: When did you realize that your ball collection was something special?
A: Well I guess I can point out to everybody that I did get my first baseball ever at Shea Stadium in 1990. I got four balls that year and fourteen more in 1991 and it wasn’t really until the 1992 season that I started going to games a lot. I began to get one or two or three at most games, sometimes none but I’d average like one or two balls a game and…I thought I was the man! “Oh my god I’m going to catch a hundred balls before I die.” Everybody laughed at me, and I ended up getting more than 100 just that season alone, so I thought that was a big deal. In 1996, I ended up getting my thousandth ball and I got interviewed a little bit for that and I thought it was a big deal. When I used to get asked if I had caught any important balls I would talk about some of the toss-ups I got from some of the All-Star players or future Hall of Famers. I thought that was a big deal. Mark McGwire threw me a ball and Tony Gwynn threw me a ball and Ozzie Smith, and it didn’t even occur to me that…dude stop wasting your time getting toss-ups and catching foul balls, you could be going for home runs. Of course, my home stadium was terrible for home runs. Yankee Stadium was great for home runs, but I was too dumb as a child to realize I should be focusing on that. But it really wasn’t until 2006 when I caught a Barry Bonds in San Diego, which was really one of the first home runs I ever gotten…that’s when it really struck me like oh, damn, there’s a lot of people who keep their eye on this thing. I realized how fun it is to catch an important player’s home run, and it still even took me a few more years until I started focusing on home runs. The second half of 2008, I focused on it more and I ended up getting a few milestone home runs starting around that time and my hobby began to keep reaching bigger heights. I don’t know how it’s going to be possible to top the whole A-Rod 3000 thing, but I’m looking forward to snagging 10,000 baseballs, which will only take me maybe two or three more years. So, I guess I don’t know exactly when I realized it.
Q5: Is there a player who you have not caught a homer from that you would like to?
A: There’s definitely players I would love to catch home runs from. David Wright definitely comes to mind first. I came very close to catching one of his at Shea Stadium and I could have if I were more aggressive. I was running through the isles in the left field bleachers for the ball, and a little kid wandered out right in front of me while I was running for it and I stopped short because I didn’t want to knock him down. That cost me a couple of seconds and I missed the ball by an arms length. If not for that kid, or if I were more aggressive, I would have a David Wright home run ball in my collection. But I’m hoping to get one of his one day, he still has a number of years left on his contract and I’m often out in left field at Citi Field so I’m hoping he’ll hit one in my direction. Albert Pujols also comes to mind, as does Alex Rodriguez. I feel I need to catch another A-Rod home run because I gave the one I caught back to him, and I would like to have one for myself. Michael Cuddyer, I know is coming up on 200 home runs rather soon, so that would also be a cool one to catch, as would a home run from any player in the World Series.
Q6: How do you think the Mets will end up doing this season?
A: The Mets are definitely making the post season. I don’t see them cooling off in the next few weeks, because I think the pitching is way to strong. At the start of the season, I thought the Nationals were going a long way, as did a lot of other folks, but I think the Mets are clearly the superior team in the National League East. I think they’re going to the playoffs and…it’s hard to predict who’s going all the way once you are in the playoffs. I think the Mets’ pitching is as good as any team’s pitching, including the Dodgers’ Grienki and Kershaw. They don’t have a lot beyond that, but the Mets do and I think it will be interesting to see how that all pans out.
Q7: If you could go back in time, who’s home run would you like to see?
A: Wow, that’s a hard one. I’ve actually never been asked that before, so I don’t know. I’d probably have to go with something from Babe Ruth though. Maybe his first home run, maybe his last. Really any home run of his would be cool…but actually, I think I’d have to go with the Babe’s first home run in the All-Star game. I believe that was the first home run in All-Star game history, so catching that would be awesome. I would probably look crazy with a glove in the outfield back in those days, but just the idea of being at that game with the all-time greats playing at the same time would be awesome.
I would like to thank Zack Hample for his time and giving me this opportunity to interview him. You can check-out his website at www.zackhample.com.