Anytime baseball players surpass a major career milestone involving homeruns they always want to try and get the ball back for their own memories. Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th hit unfortunately landed in the hands of someone who sounds like he resents him and the odds of ever getting the ball back appear slim.
@IamJoeSports
In the first inning of last night’s game against the Detroit Tigers, Rodriguez went yard off of Justin Verlander in the first inning, hitting it over the right-center field wall and into the hands of Zach Hample. New York Yankees personnel made their way over to Hample in order to authenticate the ball and work on a swap for this piece of history.
Hample wasn’t trying to hear any of that though and left the stadium with the ball still in his possession. There is still a chance he could work something out with the Yanks, but from the sounds of it he would want them to do quite a bit. Hample gave some quotes to reporters after he caught the ball and he sounds like someone who still very much holds a grudge against A-Rod for using steroids and lying.
Hample is not a Yankees fan, he claims to be neutral, but that could hurt A-Rod’s chances. He says he has caught more than 8,000 balls at baseball stadiums all around the country over the past 20 years, but none as big as this. The ball is worth about $50,000 on the low end, but it could wind up being worth much, much more, especially at an auction. Hample also said he works with a charity that helps get underprivileged kids baseball equipment around the world, so he could use the ball for that as well
Wouldn’t be surprised if the Yanks pull out all the stops and give him an offer he can’t refuse, but as of now it’s not happening. Check the gallery to see what he said.
