I was looking through the gameday thread and I saw someone said they hated him more than anyone in the world... seriously? Ive read his blog a few times and I found out all this "ballhawking" he does is for charity. Last year he raised over 10,000 big ones for some charity to give baseball equipment to kids. He seems like he is a bit out of touch with reality, but still I respect him for loving baseball and doing his passion, even though people make fun of him for it. On a side note, he does look like a pretty big media hog. Oh well... what are everyone elses thoughts?

 

Heres his blog - http://snaggingbaseballs.mlblogs.com/. I bet he'll post something later about catching Stanton's blast and doing that weird dance in his "Waldo" shirt

I remember vaguely a situation I think it was last year about a guy who collected balls like this that caught Coglans first hr in Milwaukee and would only give it up for a long list of free swag, and was really agressive about it and it became a news story. Is this the same guy?

Answered my own question, it wasn't

Answered my own question, it wasn't

 

 

That guy and Hample are buddies from what i've read. And btw, they do hold the balls for ransom basically. Check out Hample's blog just below the Puerto Rico one, this is what he said about someone catching Cantu's 100th home run ball:

 

That was Craig, the guy I'd talked to during BP. He's the one who ended up grabbing it, so I gave him all kinds of advice on what to tell security when they came to get the ball from him. I told him he could get all kinds of goodies for it, and that he could meet Cantu, but in the end, all he got for it was a signed ball by Nick Markakis. I thought he really wasted an opportunity until I noticed the name of the back of his jersey: MARKAKIS. Still, he could've gotten a Markakis bat to go along with his Markakis ball, if he really wanted it...but oh well. He was happy, and Cantu was obviously thrilled, so in the end, it all worked out perfectly.

 

 

What annoys me about him is the fact that he becomes a whiny girl when he doesn't get the ball he wants. I remember reading his blog about trying to catch Griffey's 600th down here in Miami and him whining for paragraph after paragraph about how it could have been his. I've also read from people who say he's pretty pushy to get a ball, he will get in people's way, etc just to get that ball. I enjoy his blog sometimes, but when he goes on his rants about not getting the one he wanted it sounds like he's 12 years old.

This dude must freak out everytime somone throws a visiting teams home run back before he can get over to them

This dude must freak out everytime somone throws a visiting teams home run back before he can get over to them

 

 

I don't blame him, this is the most idiotic thing ever. I feel like people just give into the peer pressure, like it's 'the cool thing to do'

This dude must freak out everytime somone throws a visiting teams home run back before he can get over to them

 

 

I don't blame him, this is the most idiotic thing ever. I feel like people just give into the peer pressure, like it's 'the cool thing to do'

 

I wouldn't wanna keep a ball that hurt my team. :shrugs

This dude must freak out everytime somone throws a visiting teams home run back before he can get over to them

 

 

I don't blame him, this is the most idiotic thing ever. I feel like people just give into the peer pressure, like it's 'the cool thing to do'

 

I wouldn't wanna keep a ball that hurt my team. :shrugs

From what I've heard, at least in Chicago the fans bring in an extra ball, or keep one from BP and when they "throw the ball back" it usually is the extra ball or BP homer.

This dude must freak out everytime somone throws a visiting teams home run back before he can get over to them

 

 

I don't blame him, this is the most idiotic thing ever. I feel like people just give into the peer pressure, like it's 'the cool thing to do'

 

I wouldn't wanna keep a ball that hurt my team. :shrugs

 

That's ridiculous, IMO. I don't know, what do other people think?

Was this the guy who did the wacky dance after he caught the home run ball, even though he was wearing a Mets hat and the home run was a devastating blow to his team? I thought there was something a little off about that....

I've always been from the school that believes when you get to be a certain age (16?) bringing a glove to the game gets a little dorky.

I mentioned this in the game thread as soon as Stanton hit it. I knew immediately it was Hample the second it was caught, because he did that jackass "churn the butter" dance.

 

I really despise this guy. He's a 33 year old "kid" who looks and acts 20 until he takes his hat off to reveal his skin dome. He was at Camden Yards on Wedneday night wearing a Marlins shirt (barf) to try to get balls. He's always super obnoxious reaching over little kids and running people over. Watch his interview on the Tonight Show with Conan to see how much of a douche he is. Conan loves everyone and never comes off as condescending, but you could really tell that he thought Hample was a pathetic loser.

 

He tries to legitimize his "hobby" by saying some of it is for charity. All the while he is living off his parents' dollar to support his air fare, hotel costs, and baseball tickets. I bet his expenses every year easily eclipse ten grand. He's been doing this for a long time now (since the 90s). He's probably felt ashamed that he's doing at still at age 33, so he tries to push the charity angle as an excuse.

 

I suggestt watching his conduct at the ballpark firsthand before trying to defend the guy.

Also- how is this an exhibition of love for the game of baseball? Wearing jerseys for teams you aren't a fan of to get balls? Not watching the game as you plan out your next route to get a foul/home run ball?

 

I suppose everyone values certain aspects of the game, but this is nothing more than spoiled brat materialism.

Also- how is this an exhibition of love for the game of baseball? Wearing jerseys for teams you aren't a fan of to get balls? Not watching the game as you plan out your next route to get a foul/home run ball?

 

I suppose everyone values certain aspects of the game, but this is nothing more than spoiled brat materialism.

 

 

I concur, well said.

I mentioned this in the game thread as soon as Stanton hit it. I knew immediately it was Hample the second it was caught, because he did that jackass "churn the butter" dance.

 

I really despise this guy. He's a 33 year old "kid" who looks and acts 20 until he takes his hat off to reveal his skin dome. He was at Camden Yards on Wedneday night wearing a Marlins shirt (barf) to try to get balls. He's always super obnoxious reaching over little kids and running people over. Watch his interview on the Tonight Show with Conan to see how much of a douche he is. Conan loves everyone and never comes off as condescending, but you could really tell that he thought Hample was a pathetic loser.

 

He tries to legitimize his "hobby" by saying some of it is for charity. All the while he is living off his parents' dollar to support his air fare, hotel costs, and baseball tickets. I bet his expenses every year easily eclipse ten grand every year.

 

I suspect watching his conduct at the ballpark firsthand before trying to defend the guy.

 

 

Can't find the video.

NBC purged all of that stuff from Hulu so you might have to be more creative in searching through the various legal means to see it.

http://www.scrabblec...http://www.scrabbleclub.com/zack/index.htm

 

sh*tty quality though, recorded with a video camera

It wasn't Mike's first home run. It wasn't the first home run in this series. So what makes anyone think this ball is worth anything more than just a baseball? I guess maybe being able to get Stanton to sign it (if they stick with our tradition with us being the home team), then hold onto it for years hoping Mike dosen't have a short career and actually lives up to his potential.

 

Am I missing something?

Yeah, reading the guys blog he seems a bit dorky, whining about players throwing balls to kids and whatnot.

It wasn't Mike's first home run. It wasn't the first home run in this series. So what makes anyone think this ball is worth anything more than just a baseball? I guess maybe being able to get Stanton to sign it (if they stick with our tradition with us being the home team), then hold onto it for years hoping Mike dosen't have a short career and actually lives up to his potential.

 

Am I missing something?

 

We aren't discussing the value of Stanton's home run ball or what the fan should do with it. We are discussing the merits of the Hample's conduct and ball-hawk hobby. The subject was only broached because Hample happened to catch it.

That guy looks like a total douche bag.

 

I've always been from the school that believes when you get to be a certain age (16?) bringing a glove to the game gets a little dorky.

 

 

This too.

 

Also from the blog

 

FYI: I'm here with my girlfriend (Jona),

 

Pretty much proves there is pretty much somebody for everyone, even the dweeby losers who spend their free time traveling the world stealing baseballs from little children while living in his parent's basement at age 32.

NBC purged all of that stuff from Hulu so you might have to be more creative in searching through the various legal means to see it.

 

 

Haha, I actually remember this interview, watched it live.Its pretty amazing the balls that hes caught though, and now that Stanton one. How lucky do you have to be...

Im sorry im posting this so far from the original statement made above, but i didnt realize Coghlan had to go through all that just for his ball. Everything about the story seemed wrong after listening to many Coghlan interviews and hearing how he is in public. Im in Law Enforcement and that guy should get his head checkd. Makes me think what hes doing to get his way in his job. I would expect a guy that is serving in a position of that kind to have a little more respect, I would have been thrilled to death just to get an autographed ball or bat and possible gain a little respect from a Major League player in being a part of one of his big moments. The the dang cost of living must be hell of a lot higher then it is in North Carolina than Milwaukee because i can only dream making 50,000 as an LEO. I dont want to turn this into a Cop bashing thread, but i thought i should just include my imput in that as a Law Enforcement officer.

 

PS> I just want to add that I dont know if i could live with my self if i didnt give the ball to a little kid around me.

That guy looks like a total douche bag.

 

 

I've always been from the school that believes when you get to be a certain age (16?) bringing a glove to the game gets a little dorky.

 

 

This too.

 

Also from the blog

 

FYI: I'm here with my girlfriend (Jona),

 

Pretty much proves there is pretty much somebody for everyone, even the dweeby losers who spend their free time traveling the world stealing baseballs from little children while living in his parent's basement at age 32.

 

If I wasn't dating someone, I'd be really really depressed right now.

I was at the 2nd game of the Orioles series and this guy was there. I had no idea who this guy was until I read this thread. But he caught our attention at the game, my wife and I were both amazed by his douchiness. He would go from LF to RF NON f***ING STOP. And, he wasn't particularly nice to the guy who caught Cantu's HR. He seemed to have gotten into an argument initially re who was the rightful possessor of the ball. Security came over and spoke to him. He has wasn't there alone either there was a couple of other autograph whore's and ball hounds. Lame.

 

Where does he get the money to go to all these games? No chance I'm reading that blog.