The King of Snagging

At major league baseball games, there are lots of opportunities to interact with the high-energy action. Cheering, doing the wave, getting on the jumbotron, and attempting to catch foul balls have become the standard for fans across the country. New York City resident Zack Hample has made a name for himself as a ball catching phenomenon. Since the age of 12, Zack has accumulated over 10,000 baseballs from major league games in North America. His ball collection not only exceeds that of any other baseball fan in history, but it celebrates many prominent baseball moments. He caught the Mets’ last home run at Shea Stadium in 2008, Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th career hit in 2015, and Zack snagged the Reds infielder Alex Blandino’s first career home run in May of this year. We caught up with Zack in Riverside Park to learn more about how his childhood hobby of catching foul balls grew to become the famed career he holds today.