While hitting a home run always benefits a team, New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is probably wishing that his 3,000th hit would've stayed in the field of play—because it doesn't look like he is going to be getting the ball.
Rodriguez became the 29th player in MLB history to join the 3,000-hit club when he homered off Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in the first inning of Friday night's game. The ball went over the right-field wall and right to known ball collector Zack Hample.
Hample had been asked on Thursday what he would do if he caught Rodriguez's 3,000th hit (if it was a home run, of course). This was his response, which he later deleted:
Crazily enough, he did actually wind up catching the ball:
Yankees personnel quickly made their way over to Hample to try to negotiate a deal that would result in him giving the ball to A-Rod. No dice.
Hample does not like that Rodriguez has been linked to performance-enhancing drugs, which played into his decision not to give the ball to the player. Mike Gavin of Newsday tweeted out some pretty interesting quotes and information from Hample:
Hample did, however, say that there is a way Rodriguez could wind up getting the ball:
It always becomes a topic of debate when a fan catches a milestone baseball. Given whose milestone this one is, this fan's situation will likely cause a stir.
Should Hample give Rodriguez the milestone baseball? If so, for free or for a certain price?
[Twitter]
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