No Deal: Fan With A-Rod's 3,000th Ball Won't Give It Back -- For Now
NEW YORK (CBS Detroit/AP) - The fan at Yankee Stadium who wound up with the ball from the 3,000th hit by Alex Rodriguez doesn't plan to give it back, at least not right now.
Zack Hample describes himself as a pro at catching home run balls, and is credited with collecting more than 8,000 baseballs at stadiums around the country.
The 37-year-old Hample was sitting in the right-field seats and got the ball Rodriguez hit into the stands for a homer in the first inning against Detroit.
Hample, a Yankees season-ticket holder, tweeted Friday night that he told the Yankees he's keeping this prized souvenir from A-Rod. A day earlier, Hample tweeted that Rodriguez "deserves favors from no one, least of all a fan."
Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said during the game that the organization did "everything we could to engage this guy in some type of discussion about some type of exchange. He had none of anything we were saying. He wouldn't engage at all."
"As far as we're concerned, we have done everything we could to engage this guy in some type of discussion about some type of exchange. He had none of anything we were saying. He wouldn't engage at all," Zillo said.
But later Friday night, Hample told the Associated Press that he's "thinking about" giving the ball back, but isn't making any "definite decisions" anytime soon.
"They were so nice, and that made me think about what I want to do," Hample told the AP. "There's no right or wrong in this. We'll just see."
Hample has returned balls in the past. He said he gave back the first home runs hit by Mike Trout and Didi Gregorius, free of charge, but "this is something more special."
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