Ballhawk Troubles

[Wrigley2010]

This was inevitable, no?

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-07-23/yankees-stadium-zach-hample-assault

[yanks12025]

This was inevitable, no?

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-07-23/yankees-stadium-zach-hample-assault


That guy has to get a life.

[Sioux4Ever]

I never have and never will have respect for Zach Hample or any other ballhawk like him. Safety for others flys out the window to many of these people. I have 1st hand been on the end of Zach being a dick and running over children to get a ball.....that kid happened to be my little brother and because of Hample we had to leave the game. I don't want to be the one sounding spiteful or like a jerk but this kid got what was coming to him!!! I just wish it had happened sooner

[lengthwise1]

As someone who regularly attends BP and has caught 20 game balls, I just don't understand the aggressive nature of he and some others. Chill the f out!

I get the adrenalin of the ball coming, but people need to be respectful of others around them. Hell, I could have caught a Josh Hamilton foul the other night, but I decided not to maul my 3yr old in the process to catch it. It's one thing to get caught up in the moment and not see someone, but when it happens time and time again there is no excuse. If you think he's bad, you should see the kid that got Bond's last HR which was hit at Coors Field. He freaking throws elbows and body checks for a BP ball!!!!

[godwulf]

The fact that this is happening in a ballpark doesn't excuse what some of these jerks do to innocent bystanders. Even at Chase Field, where things are relatively mellow, you're sometimes taking your life in your hands just trying to sit out in the outfield stands during BP. There are people whose seats are out there who have to wait off to the side or sit somewhere else while BP is going on, so they won't be trampled or fallen on by some obsessive idiot with delusions of being an athlete.

I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of ballpark Security. If somebody is running around endangering the safety of other patrons, he needs to be warned and then, if he keeps it up, tossed.

[Roady]

It was a batting practice ball. :cool: That is just stupid on so many levels.

[Phil316]

Sounds to me this Zach character got a good dose of reality.

[MrOct44]

This guy was also at the all star game sitting right below my group. He had a backpack full of different hats that he changed depending on who he is asking for a ball. He camped out in center field right near the bullpen in the front row. We watched as he took a ball from a kid and the kid's mom gave him an earful.

[3arod13]

So I'm assuming then that none of you are interested in adding this to your collection?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALEX-RODRIGUEZ-3000TH-HIT-ZACH-HAMPLE-SIGNED-BASEBALL-/221832735305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a642ea49

[lengthwise1]

So I'm assuming then that none of you are interested in adding this to your collection?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALEX-RODRIGUEZ-3000TH-HIT-ZACH-HAMPLE-SIGNED-BASEBALL-/221832735305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a642ea49


lol

[Sioux4Ever]

So I'm assuming then that none of you are interested in adding this to your collection?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALEX-RODRIGUEZ-3000TH-HIT-ZACH-HAMPLE-SIGNED-BASEBALL-/221832735305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a642ea49
I'd buy it so i could burn it! No respect for this joker!!

[godwulf]

I was going to say that the only thing sillier than wanting a baseball signed by someone who caught a (fake) milestone ball would be someone who actually paid money for a ball signed by somebody who bought a (fake) milestone ball. I was thinking about a baseball I once saw in a comics shop that was signed by Todd McFarlane, that the shop owner wanted fifty bucks for. Thinking back, though, that ball was very ornately and artistically signed, and McFarlane is known, after all, for more than just overpaying for the McGwire ball.

That might be an interesting thread topic, come to think of it: who did you get to sign a baseball that you later thought, "What was I thinking? That was a waste of a good baseball!"

[coxfan]

Zack Hample's 2011 book "The Baseball" (Anchor Books) has much interesting history of baseball manufacture. I don't understand why people fight for balls, especially BP, when you can buy authenticated game-used balls from the team. I get my "high" from shopping and checking the play-by-play for each offered ball on my wife's IPad, before making a purchase decision.

[sox83cubs84]

Hample also used to be a hone guest on national ESPN Radio about 10 years ago on a weekend overnight show called "The Sports Doctor". He was on every month or two. I've never met him, and hold no persoal grudges, but I do have to admit that he did sound like somewhat of a wildman in those calls.

Dave Miedema