Zack Hample

About

Zachary Ben Hample (born September 14, 1977) is an American baseball collector. Hample claims to have collected more than 13,000 baseballs from Major League stadiums, including Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th career hit and Mike Trout’s first career home run.
Hample has been heavily criticized by sportswriters, players, and fans due to his aggressive tactics to collect baseballs.

Hample was raised in New York City. He is the son of author, performer, playwright, and cartoonist Stoo Hample. He developed an interest in baseball at the age of five. He played Division III baseball for the Guilford Quakers while studying English at Guilford College. During his youth, Hample hoped to play in Major League Baseball before he began collecting baseballs.

The first baseball that Hample caught at a game was at Shea Stadium in 1990. Hample has described his interest in catching foul balls as “a passion”. He has said his obsession for catching balls developed “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.”
Hample caught his 6,000th baseball in 2012. By 2022, he…