NEW YORK — 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.
Zack Hample describes himself as a pro at catching home run balls, and is credited with collecting more than 8,000 of them. He tweeted Friday night that he told the Yankees he’s keeping this prize souvenir from A-Rod.
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.
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 man intended to keep the ball.
“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.
