Man who caught A-Rod’s 3,000th softens stance on keeping it

Zack Hample, the New York City man who emerged with Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th hit on Friday, has softened his initial stance in which he said he has no intention of giving the ball back to the Yankees designated hitter.

“I am planning on meeting again with the Yankees soon,” Hample told Sports Illustrated on Monday. “And I am contemplating a scenario where they and A-Rod could get this ball back involving a large donation to my favorite charity.”

Hample’s favorite charity is Pitch In for Baseball, which provides new and gently used baseballs and softball equipment for kids who lack equipment to play baseball.

Hample, 37, has plenty of baseballs he could donate to the charity. According to his website, Hample has snagged more than 8,000 baseballs at big league ballparks since 1990 and has written a book on the art entitled “How To Snag Major League Baseballs.”

He was sitting in the right-field seats at Yankee Stadium when Rodriguez reached the 3,000-hit milestone with a first-inning solo home run off Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander.

“Here’s A-Rod’s 3,000th hit/ball. Told the @Yankees I’m keeping it. Got it authenticated by @MLB. This is un-REAL,” Hample quickly posted on Twitter.

David Kohler of SCP Auctions, which sold Rodriguez’s 500th home run ball for $105,000, told ESPN.com that the 3,000th hit ball is worth more than $50,000.

But Hample said giving it back isn’t in his plans.

“My intention all along, I’ve been imagining this scenario as a one-in-a-million, was not to give it back,” Hample told reporters. “You know, just because the guy who got (Derek) Jeter’s 3,000th hit, a lot of people called him an idiot. A lot of people said that he was a wonderful person and extremely generous. And I really think that, whatever you want to do with it is your choice.

“I think that someone like Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez, who has made half a billion dollars in his career, doesn’t really need a favor from a normal civilian and a fan like me. I don’t know right now if I’m going to sell it.”

After the game, A-Rod — who became the 29th member of the 3,000-hit club and joined Jeter and Wade Boggs as the only players ever to homer for their 3,000th hit — downplayed the importance of getting the ball.

“Maybe years ago that would have been kind of an important thing for me,” he said. “By far, nothing that I’ve done personally would ever compare to winning the championship in 2009. I don’t have a ball, I don’t have a bat from that, but I do have a memory, and the memory lives forever. Kind of the same way I feel about today.”

Rodriguez mentioned the fan who caught Jeter’s home run ball for his 3,000th hit in 2011. That man was all too eager to return it to the former Yankees star.

“Where’s Jeet’s guy? That’s the guy I needed,” Rodriguez said. “I wasn’t so lucky.”

That remains to be seen as Hample has since told Sports Illustrated he’s softened his stance a bit.

“I kind of cringe when I see my earlier quotes,” he said. “I kind of came out swinging and told the Yankees, ‘I appreciate all the offers. I gotta take this ball home with me tonight and just think about it over the weekend.’”

Here’s the video of A-Rod’s 3,000th hit.