man I just love baseball I just wanted a
one ball I'm fallible I toss up anything
Oh me New York marked up that six games
at home to try to get one more hit to
get the 3,000
[Applause]
now he has to get the good graces of the
fan that brought that ball you'll get it
back so the most famous ball in baseball
right now went from the hand of Justin
Verlander to the bat of Alex Rodriguez
and then into the stands into the hands
of our next guests at Campbell why did
you decide not to return the ball to
Alex Rodriguez or the Yankees there's no
way I'm gonna give this thing back
forget about it
the very least I need to walk out of the
stadium with this ball in my possession
my name is Zach Hampel I snacked Alex
Rodriguez his 3,000th career hit and
it's not the first baseball that I've
gotten at a major league stadium I've
snagged more than 8,000 baseballs over
the years went to my first game in 1984
and I didn't get my first ball till 1990
I've spent my whole life building up to
this moment with the a rod ball and a
lot of people feel that a rod deserves
the ball I simply wanted to leave the
stadium with it that night slow the
process down and just think about it you
know I have eight thousand plus
baseball's I've waited my whole life for
this moment and that one baseball the
a-rod 3000 hit ball is worth more than
my entire collection combined but this
just all started off as me being a
little kid and trying to catch one ball
over the past 20 years my next guest has
snagged over 4300 baseball's from 46
different major league stadiums he's
also the author of this book watching
baseball smarter please welcome Zach
hampel I still feel that excitement when
I catch one even when I don't pass me
when a homerun goes up in the air a long
fly ball even if it falls short and it's
part on the warning track that instant
when it goes up in the air my heart
races so much
I think the older you get the more jaded
you become you know when you're a little
kid if someone buys you a pack of candy
that's like the most exciting thing in
your life and you know then your first
kiss is like the greatest moment and
there's like all these firsts this is
almost your singular focus in life right
now is to catch as many baseballs as you
can in baseball stadiums is that right
absolutely and I I definitely expect to
catch one every time I go I have a huge
streak going six hundred and twenty
eight consecutive games with at least
one balls okay all right number 3,000
you know I thought it would be this
amazing turning point in my life and it
would be nothing but joy and happiness
and celebration but it actually hasn't
quite been that way why would anybody
give any publicity to a guy who catches
the ball you catch the ball you want to
keep it good get lost why does anybody
care and true douchebag fashion the fan
who caught the ball won't be giving it
back you know just even the very night
that I got the ball I saw some texts
from friends and I posted something on
Twitter to say is it true that I'm
trending at the moment and someone wrote
back but I don't even know and they're
like yeah because you're an
and that was just like opening the
floodgates to all this negativity and I
mean just I can pull up some some tweets
right now so I can't believe he's MLB
piece of trash you have eight
thousand balls just doing to spite him
hashtag
here's someone that simply said Zach
hampel you better have security Zach
hampel hope karma comes around and bites
you where the Sun don't shine prime
example of a self-centered
money-grubbing
human being someone said good luck
living in New York after this this is
New York City man it's crazy here the
thought has crossed my mind like what if
I can't go to Yankee games anymore what
if I can't go out in public what if this
turns into a Steve Bartman situation
where I
have to go into hiding
I have a lot to consider with this a rod
ball I'm hearing it the ball on the low
end would be worth fifty thousand
dollars and that just makes me laugh
it's like come on man add another zero
to the end of that I've also thought
about just keeping the damn thing you
know I mean I am a collector at heart
people say well hey rod should get the
ball when did you hear that they hadn't
got the ball back and are you hopeful
that he'll eventually be able to recover
it what do you know about that situation
a rod has made hundreds of millions of
dollars in his career a rod would be
welcome to come bid on the ball at
auction if I choose to go that route run
a business where I take people to games
actually that one your parents
that's called giving people a wrong but
in 1999 I wrote my first book how to
snag Major League Baseball's and here we
are 16 years later and I'm still putting
a lot of those strategies to use you
know the key is to make sure that I have
some room to run I just want to make
sure that this whole row on my right is
clear this whole row on my left and of
course I want to be on the stairs so if
they hit one and I judge it but it's
going farther back well I can move up
the stairs this way being able to move
in all four directions is really what I
look for first like I'd rather be in a
slightly worse spot for the batter but
where it's a little less crowded in the
stands
you get one yet you got it
there's a website that I love called
ESPN homerun tracker and you can click
on any player or any stadium and it'll
pull up a chart like a little scatter
plot that shows where all the homerun
balls have landed that season and you
really start to see tendencies you know
if you looked at a scatter plot of this
ballpark you'd see a lot of balls
landing in the first few rows over in
here but a lot of it is just instinct
another great way to get baseballs that
I I try to take advantage as much as I
can is to get toss-ups from the players
I've also noticed that players love to
toss balls if you like the foreign guys
if you ask them in their native
languages they relate better to that
you've learned and how many languages
can you say throw me a baseball over 30
are you kidding yeah you know most
people in 30 languages what language
would give me some examples of languages
that you know there's a basic ones
there's a lot of Latino guys and horses
also I would say Dom la pelota porfavor
yeah simple enough japanese chotto
bordeaux and like a take with us i okay
but you know there's there's just lots
of them like what like turkish Lutsen
vana beer tapa Thomasson or like like
wait what Turkish players you're running
into I'm prepared as soon as that
Turkish player comes into baseball I'm
gonna be all over him okay I love
baseball so much and if I get the most
important ball in my life one of the
most important balls that has ever flown
into the stands in the history of Major
League Baseball and as a result I can't
go to games anymore well then it's not
worth it at all so I definitely want to
avoid a situation where you know I'm
constantly looking over my shoulder and
worried for my safety but thankfully hey
what's up oh you have the book look at
this
I'll use my cane hold this up come on
for a change you the fan now have the
power you are empowered the franchise
can't buy it from you a rod can't buy it
from you is there some solace knowing
that you hold the keys
I have softened my stance a bit and I am
contemplating a scenario where they and
a rod could get this ball back this is
my last night with the Alex Rodriguez
baseball nobody knows it yet but I have
reached a deal with the New York Yankees
they are going to make a tremendous
donation to my favorite children's
baseball charity pitch in for baseball
and I'm gonna give them this baseball
back there is a press conference today
at Yankee Stadium at 5:30
[Music]
it's hard to believe right now is is two
weeks to the day since I got the ball
and my life has been this ball ever
since I got it no thanks I just want to
start by saying thank you to the whole
Yankees organization really for handling
this whole thing so well to be in this
situation today and to be able to do
this for pitching for baseball is just
incredible on behalf of New York Yankees
organization in recognition of our
commitment I would like to present you
with the check in the amount of one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars I'd
like to present to you your 3000th hit
baseball
Allen is drilled to right field deep
[Music]
that is the same guy caught a rods 3000
hits
now it's that just right place at the
right time there's a placement out there
does he have a scanning report you know
this is what I do I go to baseball games
I try to catch baseballs