'Obsessed' Phillies Fan Wipes Out Chasing Home Run Ball

Getting a foul ball at a Major League Baseball game is like a dream come true to some.

For Zack Hample, his dream Monday evening in Philadelphia turned more into a Three Stooges moment.

Hample, who according to PhillyVoice.com, "is a diehard who travels to stadiums across the country collecting home runs and foul balls that fly into the stands," had a moment to remember in the Phillies 2-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

When Giants first baseman Brandon Belt sent a two-run home run into the right field seats, Hample, a veteran who knows when a homer is heading out of the park, raced to retrieve the ball.

As you can see in the tweet below, he paid the price by taking a fall -- and still didn't even get the ball!












Hample tweeted out after the game that he was okay and that he would be at another stadium looking to collect more balls on Tuesday.

The New York native says that he's collected more than 11,000 balls in more than 60 different stadiums.

His prize possessions include Mike Trout's first career home run and Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th career hit.

He told journalist Bryant Gumble in 2017 on HBO's Real Sports that collecting balls is 'an obsession,' a sickness that has driven him to travel around the country attending games and collecting balls.







Written by
Matt has been a part of the Cleveland Sports landscape working in the media since 1994 when he graduated from broadcasting school. His coverage beats include the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers. He's written three books, and won the "2020 AP Sports Stringer Lifetime Service Award."