False accusation
Because of the AP story that was recently written about me, there’s been a case of mistaken identity. Basically, some guy posted a comment on this blog and falsely accused me of stealing a ball from his son–and since the comment was posted on an old entry, I’m sharing it here (along with my response) for everyone to see.
Here’s the comment, posted at 10:28pm on June 28, 2008:
YOU are the guy who snagged, wait.. flat out STOLE a baseball underhand
tossed by Aaron Rowland then of the Phillies intended for my 5 year old
behind the visitors dugout at Shea last September.
No, it wasn’t a
misunderstanding.
At the last second you leaped from nowhere getting
your fat butt in my son’s face and STEALING his baseball. Then you ran
like a girl when everyone who witnessed your manic behavior booed you.
YOU don’t remember stealing the ball from my kid, but he sure does.
Shame on you. Karma, baby, Karma.
Ouch! But like I said above, this is a FALSE accusation. Keep reading and you’ll see what I mean. Here’s the response (plus some added links) that I emailed to the guy at 2:32am on June 29, 2008:
Hey-
I just saw the comment you left on my blog, and while I’m terribly sorry to hear what happened to your son (and to hear that he’s still upset about it), I want to assure you that I was NOT the person who stole that ball. Here’s proof:
1) I keep a VERY thorough list of every player and coach who has ever tossed me a ball, and Aaron Rowand (not “Rowland”) is not on it. That list can be found here on my web site.
2) I didn’t see the Phillies play at Shea Stadium last September. (I wish I had so I could’ve booed them.) Of the five games I attended that month at Shea, one was against the Astros, another was against the Braves, two were against the Nationals, and the last was against the Marlins.
In addition, I know it wasn’t me because I simply don’t DO that to people. I’ll admit that when I was a kid, I used to reach in front of people for balls, and I’m ashamed I acted that way. The good news is that I learned from my mistakes and cleaned up my act. Now, not only do I go out of my way to help kids get balls, but I even GIVE away lots of balls to kids.
So yeah, you got the wrong guy. It happens. No hard feelings, at least not from my end. I realize I’m pretty generic-looking, and on top of that, there are lots of other people at Shea who try to snag baseballs. Some, apparently, go about it the wrong way.
Again, I’m really sorry to hear what happened to you guys, and I hope this clears things up.
Sincerely,
Zack Hample
There’ve been lots of nasty things written about me on other blogs and message boards over the years. For those of you who just discovered this blog because of the AP story, I just want to say…don’t believe everything you read. The AP story itself is great, but there are a lot of angry people out there who hide behind anonymous email addresses–people who’ve never met me yet still make assumptions and accusations. Check out my web site. Read this blog. Leave me a comment. Send me an email. Join me for a game. Watch me in action. Get to know me. You’ll (hopefully) see that I’m not such a bad guy.
Zack Hample
Zack-
It’s obviously a false accusation because you don’t have a fat butt.
: )
Those who have seen you in action..know that you play fair…This is a situation where all those hours of documenting everything pays off…Good job Zack. Your a stand up guy….Don
Zack…
Just for the record, it wasn’t me…..the Kung Fu Panda. Padres lose 7th in a row. Ouch. 50th ball yesterday. Kind of off pace, but the crowds will be thinning at PETCO shortly. Padres just announced that all hot dogs and sodas are a buck for the month of July only. Woo Hoo! There’s only like 9 home games though. Take it easy.
Leigh
Here’s a fun picture….
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=padres&gallery_id=1153075&image_id=20
hi zack
haven’t posted here in a while
just read the article on yahoo and im sorry to hear people accusing you like that. i’m missing my red sox coming here to play the angels because i will be in Israel but i will probably go to about 10 games in august. it was nice to read ur blog again
oh my god i was catching up on all ur posts since end of may and i just read about manny and griffey wow. thats soooooooooo close.
Zack-
No worries. Anyone who reads your blog (even for a couple of months) knows you’re totally cool to kids. There are a bunch tools hanging out at every major league dugout that would gladly steal balls from kids. This guy had no right to suppose you were the one taking the ball from his kid. If that was me with my kid I would of taken care of business right then, instead of falsely accusing a famous ballhawk.
Keep the faith.
-Graham
i think chad is related to the Wilpins. that how he got the job yankee ballboys can throw.
Are you going to come down to Washington to see any more Nats games? I want to see you in action, but I nor my parents have the money for a Watch With Zack. I would even go see you at Camden since that is only about an hour and a half away from where I live. I’ll just stay tuned into your blog and see if you have any trips down to the D.C. area.
puck – Are you kidding me?!? I agree that Chad throws like a girl, but that ball boy at Yankee Stadium who always warms up the visiting team’s left fielder throws just as badly, if not worse. Don’t be hatin’ on the Mets. At least they allow backpacks in their lovely stadium.
the mets ballboys admittedly throw terribly. but greg, you’re right, at least backpacks are allowed. i don’t know how im gonna do the home run derby this year, with no backpack. i was planning on bringing a bunch of teams caps, but i really dont know now. i dont know how much room i have in a string bag.
zack-wow, thats rather ridiculous.
Zack, I want an update if this guy replies back to you to hear what he has to say.
Zack, sorry to hear about your drama. Everything will work out in the end.
I just need to reiterate something. Yankee Stadium is a disaster. I went to the 2 PM Subway Series game on Friday, and tried to get into the stadium around 1:50 PM, and it took me almost an hour to get in! Come on! I saw like 10 people getting turned away after waiting an hour, and they were forced to walk around the block to check their backpack at the bowling alley. They were NOT happy. I literally didn’t walk into the stadium until 2:45! Ridiculous! I went to the night game at Shea, and it took me 5 minutes to get in.
Greg, I totally agree about that ballboy at Yankee Stadium. When he was having a catch with Johnny Damon, I couldn’t stop laughing. He couldn’t even reach Damon! Their former ballboy from a few years ago, Skippy, used to have a better arm than any of the left fielders that he helped warm up!
zack
i unexpectedly went to nationals park last night. i showed up halfway through bp but i got a perfect commemorative in bp. the orioles were using them and about every single ball that the orioles used was a brand new commemorative. i only got 2 that night though. one training and one commem.
first of all, the seats down the line at the “lovely stadium” face towards center field, not the batter, and the ballboy last year had a gun. i do agree with the backpack thing though. and skippy as PSU pointed out was GR8! i bet hes in the farm system somewhere
people just dont like you zack check this out ive already posted on there about this subject this is on pat neshek’s site http://pneshek.proboards39.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=21825
puck – Those accusations about the seats are outrageous. There is not one bad seat at Shea (except for … you know … all of them). But for the record, nothing about being at Yankee Stadium is pleasant. At least Shea has the backpack thing and all the nooks and crannies that facilitate ball-retrieving devices (and rats).
well about the rats, someone my family knows was like volunteering at the Stadium, and said that underground where they keep like the beer and frozen food, there are rats the size of cats and ive seen some big ones around the stadium. i will say that the seats i had will be really good at CitiField (which i will probably like better than the new Yankee Stadium), but yeah for snagging Shea is better
oh and leigh, you look nothing like the Kung Fu Panda
they should have a ball snagging video game
Puck Collector- that would be pretty awesome if they had a ball snagging game with Zack Hample on the cover, someone should bring that up.
Zack- that guy is rediculous because I have seen you at a couple games and you made sure to watch out and be respectful to everyone, and in Philly when I told you I was close to my record you gave me distance I appreciate it because I got my record and you were courteous to everyone.
Hi Zack wild stuff, I caught a mets shea commemorative ball from the mariners Friday,they just came from NY,must have picker up a few,didnt see any others.Do some more auto trivia please,no all star game for Zack?
Puck-
OMFG I was thinking the EXACT same thing last week. I am not kidding. You make your person and then you give him/her physical attributes (fast, jump high, agile) and then you can unlock Zack Hample once you get like a certain amount of baseballs.
This will never happen though. I quickly realized that.
VEGANTEMP-
You’re the best.
DON-
Yes, good point, the documenting finally served a bigger purpose. Thanks very much for backing me up.
LEIGH-
One-dollar hot dogs for an entire month?! Don’t make me fly out there…
RAMONES-
Good to hear from you again, and yeah, I was really close to that damn Griffey ball.
GRAHAM!
Thanks!
PUCK COLLECTOR-
I think all ballboys have some sick connection to ownership/management.
DB3PAR-
I doubt I’m gonna make it back down to D.C. this season, but you might want to mark September 11 on your calendar (in pencil). I’m leaning toward a trip to Camden that day.
GREG-
Lovely. Nice word.
NJMETFAN-
Aww c’mon, you can stuff a few hats into one of those drawstring bags. Anyway, there’s a chance that backpacks WILL be allowed at the Derby. I heard that MLB takes over the All-Star festivities and does things by their rules, so if that’s the case, then the Yankees’ stupid “no backpacks” rule wouldn’t apply. Can anyone look into this?
JIMDELHOMME-
So far, no reply, but I’ll keep you posted.
PSU532-
Wow, that’s awful. It took an HOUR to get inside? Shame on the Yankees. Seriously. That’s just not right. For the Derby or All-Star Game, okay, I could accept it if it took that long to get inside. But for a regular season game? Sorry. That’s unacceptable.
GOISLANDERS4-
Nice work! It’s cool that random teams are using special balls.
PUJOLSISAHERO-
Whatever. I’m not interested in reading what a bunch of people who don’t know me are saying on someone else’s blog…but thanks for sticking up for me. If anyone else wants to do the same, cool. But don’t stress it. I’m sure not gonna lose any sleep over it.
DHBBALL18-
A couple years ago, there was actually some talk of making a snagging video game, and one guy even took the first few steps. I really don’t see how it’d be possible, though. There’s no way to even come close to replicating the real thing, and that WOULD be the point, right? Anyway, thanks for letting the world know that I was behaving myself in Philly.
TRACYCOLLINSBECKY-
Congrats on the commemorative ball. Very cool. I don’t have any autograph trivia right now. As for the All-Star Game, I doubt I’ll be there, but there’s a good chance that I’ll be making an appearance at the Derby.
What a bunch of crap. What’s really awsome is that you have solid proof that you weren’t at the game of the incident. We all know Zack wouldn’t do that.
Zack I just got done moving some more of your books around at the book stores. They’re really hiding them from the customers. I took about 5 books from one Barnes & Noble and moved them to the front, and another 4-8 books from another store and front faced them in the middle of the sports section. I’ll be heading out to 3 book stores tomorrow to check up on your books. Remember, if you ever make your way here to Albuquerque, ya gotta check out Isotopes Park. Keep up the great work!
-Mike G.
Leigh,
Seem like you really like that name. Isn’t that Petco used to charge like 1 buck for hotdogcondiment? Hook me up 6 free-nite at Hilton at NYC, then I can pay for your trip. :)
Zack,
I am 95% sure I will visit NY in August. 3 games for Angels series and 2 games for Braves. Any good spots for autographs outside the ballparks?
Zack!
I just booked my flight to NY for this summer. I will be at the following games
July 30- Yankees vs. Orioles
July 31- Yankees vs. Angels
Aug 5- Phillies vs. Marlins ( in philly)
Aug- Mets vs. San Diego
im really excited and hope to see you in action at one of the games!
–Ethan
i dont think backpacks will be allowed at the Derby. look at the first sentance in the link.
it says “in conjuction with MLB”
which means MLB has allowed this stupid policy.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/ballpark/security.jsp
hey zack ! i just created a MLB Log and i want to let you know i will start to comment! by the way this is Carter R. “best email ever”
yeah, you dont do that kind of stuff at all. But here’s one person who has angered me:
Chris has made a blog called baseballcollector.mlblogs.com
and a site called snaggingbaseballs.com (his baseball collection is around 150)
Sorry to bring that here if anyone disagrees , but I thought it was the most appropriate place since his blog is pretty much a copy of Zack’s, with the formats of ballpark visits, intro and now even the title.
charlie: alot of people have brought him up before including me, and i think it is really like stalker-ish (if thats even a word) im mean the same name, format and everything.
look at this! the chris hex! and he does the same crtoss their face out like a no parking sign as you do zack!
http://baseballcollector.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/06/the_chris_hex_1.html
i cant even comment on “the basball collecotr”. it says i dont have permission.
Hi Zack,
I don’t know you in person, however I do know enough to say that does not sound like something you would do, and it’s not like you need the baseballs that badly and/or have so little skill in snagging them you would need to steal them off kids. In fact if you WERE there I am sure you would have let the kid snag it and if the kid missed it or somehow lost it, then it would not surprize me if somehow you managed to snag another soon after and go give it to this kid.
I understand if the Father and kid are upset by this still and need to let off steam. However, it’s totally unfair on you and just as bad an act by the Father as the guy who did steal his kids baseball, shame on them all.
Good response though.
So when and where is the 3500 going to be reach?
Stuart Jon
A few years ago, I tried to make a baseball-snagging computer game at computer camp, but it didn’t work out. It was too simplistic and easy: basically, all you had to was run around and run into baseballs.
Wow that Chris kid completely copied everything from this blog.
Zack, I am heading down to your favorite park in Cincinnati Ha Ha, I’ll be there Thursday,Friday, and possibly Saturday, to see the Reds go up against the Nats, hopefully the security is alot less strict now, otherewise it might be a hard couple of days but hey we all like a challenge right?
I’m going to the Twins games in September (I think that’s when they are in town here) and so I doubt my parents will want to take me to the September 11th game. I will see.
Zack, I finished your book the second day I got it. Keep up the good work, it was great.
pujols is at 299 hr and i have tickets for tommorow night its the mets vs cardinals @ 7:15 and im going at about 4:30 or am supposed to
has this person at all apologized?
3 things:
1) i went to the texas yanks game tonight. didnt go to BP, so no balls
2) zack were you there cuz there was a guy on the jumbotron with his hair all cut bald except for on the back of his head, where there was just a tracing of a hand that had hair which you did last year and if that was you A) you coulda said something about going cuz i woulda went to see you at the end of BP instead of getting pizza, and B) i hope you are not choosing that hair style again and
3) there is a walkway from monument park to the field, and at the end of that walkway, and the wall there is an ad for like the yomiuri japanese newspaper. when A-ROD got up in the 4th, i said to my dad, “this ball is goin over the yomiuri sigh” sure enough first pitch of the at bat he CRUSHES one into Monument park like 460 ft that bounces into the bleachers
gotta love AROD
MIKE G.-
You are my HERO!!! Thanks so much for helping to get my book seen. One of the biggest challenges once you have a book published is actually getting it into stores…and then once it’s in stores, making sure it stays in stock and doesn’t get buried. You rock! (If anyone else wants to help by doing the same thing, it would be MUCH appreciated.)
SAMMYWU17-
You should ask “joneli24″ about autographs here in NYC. He’s the expert. But there are other people on this blog as well that could give you the best advice. I know that it’s REALLY hard to get autographs outside Yankee Stadium, but at Shea you can try the Press Gate or the entrance to the Mets offices or the players’ parking lot, which is near the subway.
ETHAN-
Sounds like an awesome trip. I can’t yet commit to any of those games, so check back in when the dates are approaching and I might have a better idea. What’s the date of the last game you’re attending?
CARTER-
Great to finally hear from you in the comments section. If you want quicker answers to your questions, you should ask them here instead of emailing me. It’s easier for me to answer everyone at once in one giant comment (like this one).
CHARLIE-
Well, you know what they say about “imitation” and “flattery,” but I don’t exactly see it that way in this case. Anyway, there’s nothing I can do about it.
STUART JON-
Thanks. I appreciate everything you said. I think you’ve read enough of my blog to be able to have a say in this matter, even though as YOU said…we don’t know each other (yet) in person.
YANKSFAN61293-
Ahh, there you are. I was wondering if you were reading all these video game comments. Sorry the game never really worked out, but you took the first step toward making it happen, which is more than anyone else has ever done.
KVRPMMH-
Yeah, it’s a shame.
DHBBALL18-
I don’t know if I like THAT kinda challenge. Good luck. Let us all know how it goes.
DB3PAR-
Boooo!!! Tell your parents to get their act together. (Just don’t use my name.)
DNESBITT14-
Dude! Thanks. Recommend it to your friends. Word of mouth is SO helpful.
DARRON-
If Pujols hits it tomorrow, I hope you get it, but I’m actually hoping he won’t hit it until he gets to Philly next week. Nothing personal. :-p
JONELI24-
Nope.
PUCK COLLECTOR-
1) Bummer.
2) That was me.
2a) Sorry for the lack of a heads-up.
2b) I’m saddened to hear that you don’t like it.
3) Yeah, great, another home run by A-Rod to left-center where I couldn’t catch it.
EVERYONE-
I did indeed go to Yankee Stadium tonight (Monday, June 30), and I’ll have an entry up about it in…like, 12 hours, hopefully.
it’s going to be aug 6**
–Ethan
I’m going to Baltimore this week. Thursday and possibly Friday (July 4th). I have a season ticket for Thursday, so I can’t wait. If the weather is nice on Friday, I’ll stick around and try to get one of those Welcome Back Veterans commemorative balls.
i hope he hits it today im uploading his hit tracker to my psp today security might be a little bit tighter tonight in left im not sure but they usally do get a little tighter for hi 30th of each year and he is at 17 i think im praying that i get this ball i dont care if it has to hit me in the face becuase i want this ball if he dont hit it tonight i might just cry and if he does hit in phillie good luck to you
Hey greg, you can get in to the rest of Camden earlier than Joe Q. Public. The stadium opens 2.5 hours early, but the whole stadium (left field, and the dugouts) doesn’t open until 2 hours prior to first pitch. With a season ticket, you can walk into the stadium, go to the standing room only section show the usher by the isle nearest the rest of the stadium and you can get into the rest of the stadium. Not that many people have season tickets, so there is almost 0 competition.
db3par – Don’t you mean that the stadium opens 2 hrs early, and the whole stadium opens 1.5 hrs early? If so, yeah I knew that. I went out of my way to get season tickets, for that reason. Thanks for the tips though.
Zack-
If the kid and his dad are flipping out so much about not getting a ball why don’t they just “Watch With Zack”?And I’m taking your side on this-from your website it doesn’t sound like you’re the kind of guy who would do that to a 5 year old. Emma
To the guy who was complaining that a dude stole a baseball that Rowland threw to his kid…I am sorry that it all upset your child but when you go to a crowded baseball game… you kind of have to expect that kind of stuff. You are a parent so your world revolves around your child…and that is great BUT… some people don’t automatically focus their attention on your kid as you do as the parent. That is not meant in a mean way, but a facutal way. There are thousands of people in the stands. I have seen so many players toss balls into the stands. The only time that it is meant for a certain, identifiable person is when the player walks up and actually hands the ball to you by placing it in your hand. A toss is up for grabs. I think it is terrible that you posted a comment about some guy stealing a baseball from your kid when it was tossed. If he grabbed it right out of his hands after it was caught or placed in your kid’s hands, then I can understand your rath and blogging about it (including the child-like name calling) but…not a tossed baseball. Your feelings for your child are admirable but they are blurring your objectivity. If you are still whining about it to the point where you have to blog/post about it…that is probably why your kid was so upset. You should tell your kid that you will attend other games and one day get a ball, not act like it is the end of the world. Set an example for the kid and take him to other games and I am sure he will get a ball.