Zack Hample - wikipedia Zack Hample Zack Hample Hample in 2016 Zachary Ben Hample ( 1977 - 09 - 14 ) September 14, 1977 ( age 40 ) New York City Occupation Writer Nationality American Genre Sports Notable works `` Watching Baseball Smarter '' and `` The Baseball '' Website www.zackhample.com Zachary Ben Hample ( born September 14, 1977 ) is an American ballhawk and author. He is known for his claim that he has collected more than 10,000 baseballs from major league stadiums in North America, including Alex Rodriguez 's 3,000 th career hit and Mike Trout 's first career home run. Hample has faced criticism from fans, players, and sportswriters, one of whom has accused him of attacking children in his efforts to grab baseballs. His father, Stoo Hample, was a writer. Contents 1 Baseball collection 2 Writing 3 Fundraising activities 4 Helicopter stunt 5 Criticism 5.1 Fort Bragg Game 6 Video games 7 Rubber band ball 8 References 9 External links Baseball collection Hample claims to have collected more than 10,000 baseballs from 53 different Major League stadiums as of April 16, 2018, including 54 game home runs. He acquired his first ball from a Mets pitcher at Shea Stadium on June 20, 1990 He caught Barry Bonds ' 724th career home run at Petco Park on August 16, 2006 ; During the final week at the old Yankee Stadium, Hample gained worldwide recognition by catching home run balls on consecutive nights. On September 16, 2008, he made a leaping catch on a Jason Giambi home run and immediately celebrated with a goofy dance that was captured on TV. The following night, in nearly exactly the same spot in the right field bleachers, Hample reached far over a railing to make a backhanded catch on a Johnny Damon home run and celebrated with the same dance. The Yankees ' announcers recognized him from the previous game, and within the next 24 hours the story was covered by ESPN, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN International, Japanese TV, and many other media outlets. Yahoo ! Sports initially acknowledged Hample 's baseball - snagging skills, but did not know that it was he who had made the catches. Less than two weeks later, on September 28, 2008, Hample caught the last home run ever hit by a Mets player at Shea Stadium, this one off the bat of Carlos Beltrán. On October 8, 2008, Hample appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and followed that nearly one year later with an appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, during which O'Brien told Hample `` I think you 're the worst man in America. '' Prior to Hample 's three home run catches of 2008, he had been featured on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and on an episode of the John O'Hurley version of the game show To Tell The Truth, during which he managed to trick the audience and two of the four celebrity panelists. On May 12, 2011, he caught three foul balls during a single game at Camden Yards. He caught Mike Trout 's first major league home run on July 24, 2011 at Camden Yards ; In March 2012, Hample attended MLB 's Opening Series at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, snagging a total of 23 balls in two games. On April 18, 2013, he caught two home run balls in a single game at Yankee Stadium, including the first career homer of Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Didi Gregorius. He snagged Alex Rodriguez 's 3,000 th hit, a home run, on June 19, 2015 ; On September 14, 2015, he caught an Anthony Rendon home run on the first pitch of the game at Citizens Bank Park. On September 16, 2015, he caught two home runs during the 4th inning at Citizens Bank Park, first grabbing a Jayson Werth home run and later catching a homer by Darin Ruf. On April 27, 2017, Hample caught two home runs during the same game at Progressive Field. One was hit off the bat of Marwin González and another was hit by Abraham Almonte. On August 29, 2017, Hample caught his 10,000 th lifetime ball at Camden Yards, his lofty ballhawk milestone. The ball, which was tossed up to him by Robinson Cano, ended the 2nd inning. * On May 1, 2018, Hample snagged Reds infielder Alex Blandino 's first career home run. Hample returned the ball to Blandino, asking only to be the one to hand it over, as well as a signed bat from Blandino. Writing Hample has written three books. The first, How to Snag Major League Baseballs, was published by Simon & Schuster in 1999 when he was a junior at Guilford College. The second, Watching Baseball Smarter, was published by Random House in 2007. His third book, The Baseball, also published by Random House, was released on March 8, 2011. Hample, a writer for minorleaguebaseball.com from 2005 to 2007, contributed the foreword to Major League Baseball : An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports in 2008 and wrote the introduction for Baseball Scorekeeper in 2011. Fundraising activities Since 2009, Hample has been raising money for Pitch in for Baseball, a non-profit charity that provides baseball and softball equipment to underprivileged children all over the world. 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, In July 2015, Hample gave Alex Rodriguez the ball from his 3,000 th hit in exchange for the Yankees donating $150,000 to Pitch In For Baseball. According to Pitch in for Baseball, Hample has raised `` tens of thousands '' of dollars for the organization. Helicopter stunt On July 2, 2012, Hample attempted to break a world record by catching a baseball dropped from a helicopter 1,000 feet above LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Massachusetts. Wearing catcher 's gear that was donated by Rawlings, Hample established a record by catching a softball dropped from a height of 312 feet. He then caught baseballs dropped from heights of 312 feet, 562 feet, and 822 feet before the Federal Aviation Administration called off the stunt due to strong winds. The 822 - foot catch was initially thought to be 762 feet, but a discrepancy in the altimeter settings, which was captured on video and discovered months later, added 60 feet to the altitude. On July 13, 2013, Hample made another attempt at LeLacheur Park and succeeded in catching a baseball dropped from an altitude of 1,050 feet. Criticism Hample has faced criticism from sportswriters, players, and fans, some of whom have pointed out that he has been seen bumping children out of his way in efforts to grab baseballs. Clayton Kershaw once refused to give Hample a ball ; Hample tweeted that when he asked Kershaw for the ball, Kershaw told him no because Hample already had `` 7000 of ' em. '' Fort Bragg game 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. Despite his pre-game announcement that he would donate money to a veterans charity, this led to a public outcry as Hample is a civilian. The following day, Hample donated $1,100 to AMVETS and posted an apology on Twitter, acknowledging his `` lapse in judgment '' and `` idiotic behavior '' and calling his decision to attend a `` terrible mistake '' ; though denying he did anything illegal, he said that by attending, he `` clearly violated the spirit of the game. '' Video games Hample, a competitive video game player, appeared briefly in the 2007 documentary The King of Kong : A Fistful of Quarters. According to Twin Galaxies, he holds official world records on half a dozen classic video games including Breakout ( 896 points ) and Arkanoid ( 1,658,110 points ). Rubber band ball Hample owns a large rubber band ball, which, according to the Daily Mail, he started building at the age of three. As stated on Reddit in 2013, the ball had reached a weight of 250 pounds and was still growing. In 2014 Hample appeared with the ball on the Daily Planet show on Discovery Channel Canada. The ball weighed 259 pounds and bounced more than halfway up when rolled off a forklift from a height of eight feet. The ball weighs 305 pounds as of May 2018. References Jump up ^ `` Stuart E. Hample, Humorist and Cartoonist, Dies at 84 ''. The New York Times. 24 September 2010. Jump up ^ http://zackhample.com/baseball_collection/lists/yearly_totals.htm Jump up ^ MLBlogger snags another ball : No. 724 ( MLB.com ) Jump up ^ This Guy 's Got Gift of Grab ( www.newsday.com ) Jump up ^ Fan In Right Place at Right Time on Two Straight Nights ( Yahoo ! Sports ) Jump up ^ Another Unlikely ( But Not That Unlikely ) Home - Run Catch ( Wall Street Journal ) Jump up ^ https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Conan-to-Zack-Hample-I-think-you-re-the-worst-?urn=mlb,195919 Jump up ^ Appearance on `` To Tell The Truth '' ( YouTube ) Jump up ^ Fan 's glovework nets three fouls in O 's game ( MLB.com ) Jump up ^ Angels : Meet the Guy who caught Trout 's homer ( Orange County Register ) Jump up ^ Mike Trout 's first home run ball too precious to keep, fan says ( Orange County Register ) Jump up ^ An American Ballhawk Goes to Tokyo ( www.nypress.com ) Jump up ^ Zack Hample Catches 2 Home Runs During Yankees - Diamondbacks Game ( AP / Huffington Post ) Jump up ^ Good Day for Gregorius, Better Day for Fan ( FOX Sports Arizona ) Jump up ^ Famous baseball collector Zack Hample catches home runs by Didi Gregorius and Francisco Cervelli at Thursday night 's Yankees game ( New York Daily News ) Jump up ^ Notorious ballhawk Zack Hample catches A-Rod's 3,000 th hit ( Yahoo ! Sports ) Jump up ^ Alex Rodriguez gets his 3,000 th hit with home run... and who should catch the ball ? Zack Hample -- author of ' How To Snag Major League Baseballs '... and he wo n't give it back ( www.dailymail.co.uk ) Jump up ^ Zack Hample, who 's retrieved 8,000 baseballs, wo n't give HR back to A-Rod ( ESPN.com ) Jump up ^ Holding On to a Special Ball, With No Apology ( New York Times ) Jump up ^ ( 1 ) ( zackhample.com ) Jump up ^ Bryce Harper is lucky he hit his 40th home run where he did ( Washington Post ) Jump up ^ https://www.todaysknuckleball.com/mlb-news/watch-zach-hample-foul-ball-guy-catches-marwin-gonzalez-home-run/ Jump up ^ Miller, Doug ( September 6, 2017 ). `` Film digs into ballhawk Hample 's gift of grab ''. MLB.com. Retrieved 7 September 2017. Jump up ^ https://twitter.com/zack_hample/status/902711942929940480 Jump up ^ Charity press release ( www.pitchinforbaseball.org ) Jump up ^ Renowned baseball collector gets in the charitable spirit ( www.phillyBurbs.com ) Jump up ^ Ballhawks give back by collecting baseballs ( MLB.com ) Jump up ^ BIGS ® Sunflower Seeds and the Greatest Ballhawk of All - time Go For an Amazing Baseball Record to Benefit Charity ( Yahoo ! Finance ) Jump up ^ A-Rod, Yanks settle dispute, he gets ball from 3,000 th hit ( USA Today ) Jump up ^ Yankees get A-Rod's 3,000 th hit ball for $150,000 donation ( MSN.com ) Jump up ^ Fan presents 3,000 th hit ball to A-Rod ( MLB.com ) Jump up ^ http://pifb.org/zack-hample/ Jump up ^ This baseball stunt goes way back ( www.lowellsun.com ) Jump up ^ Hample tries to catch history in Lowell ( www.minorleaguebaseball.com ) Jump up ^ Catching baseballs is in Zack Hample 's blood ( www.boston.com ) Jump up ^ Zack Hample catches baseball dropped from 1,000 feet ( metro.co.uk ) Jump up ^ Zack Hample 's helicopter drop catch ( Yahoo ! Sports ) Jump up ^ Guilford College graduate Zack Hample catches baseball dropped from 1,050 feet ( Charlotte News & Observer ) Jump up ^ http://deadspin.com/ballhawk-zack-hample-throws-fit-because-someone-else-wa-1782880838 Jump up ^ http://deadspin.com/against-ballhawking-1782962384 Jump up ^ https://nypost.com/2017/06/20/why-this-ballhawk-is-baseballs-most-hated-fan/ Jump up ^ Ball hawk 's presence at Fort Bragg causes stir ( ESPN ) Jump up ^ Noted ballhawk donating $100 to charity for each ball caught at Fort Bragg game ( CBS Sports ) Jump up ^ Zack Hample apparently gets illegal ticket ( Sports Illustrated ) Jump up ^ Civilian got into Fort Bragg baseball game for military members, sparking outrage ( The Kansas City Star ) Jump up ^ Notorious ball hawk somehow crashes Fort Bragg game ( Yahoo ! Sports ) Jump up ^ Donation to AMVETS ( Twitter ) Jump up ^ Public apology ( Twitter ) Jump up ^ Interview with Zack Hample at Funspot ( Twin Galaxies ) Jump up ^ True arcade gaming world records ( Classic Arcade Gaming ) Jump up ^ Gaming History : Arkanoid ( arcade-history.com ) Jump up ^ The Rubberband Man ! New Yorker, 35, has been adding to ball he started when he was just three - years - old... and now it weighs over 250 POUNDS. Daily Mail Jump up ^ Giant Rubber Ball By Reddit User, Zack Hample, Took 32 YEARS and £ 920 To Make The Huffington Post, December 14, 2013. External links Official blog ISNI : 0000 0000 4567 8254 LCCN : n98086131 VIAF : 19001144 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zack_Hample&oldid=845157125 '' Categories : 1977 births Guilford College alumni Living people American bloggers Writers from New York ( state ) American sportswriters Baseball writers Collectors Baseball spectators Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2016 Articles with unsourced statements from June 2016 Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 9 June 2018, at 20 : 19 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: who has caught the most home run balls
Answer: Zachary Ben Hample