Friday (July 3) was a day for Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees to resolve off-field issues, apparently.
Earlier in the day, A-Rod and the team settled their dispute over his $6 million bonus for hitting his 600th home run, agreeing to donate $3.5 million to charity. Later on, Rodriguez and the Yankees also reached an agreement with Zack Hample for the return of the baseball that was A-Rod’s 3,000th hit.
Two weeks ago, Hample got possession of that baseball because Rodriguez launched his 3,000th career hit out of Yankee Stadium with a home run off Justin Verlander. That Hample was the one to nab the historic ball was a curious footnote to the occasion, as the “baseball collector” has snagged over 8,000 baseballs at MLB games over the past 25 years and literally wrote a book about his very particular set of skills.
Immediately after catching the ball, the question became what Hample would do with it. Would he give it back to A-Rod, perhaps in return for some autographed memorabilia and a photo opportunity with the Yankees slugger? Or might a guy who’s worked to sell himself over the years seize the opportunity to cash in on what was sure to be a hot collector’s item?
Option C for the more cynical among us would be Hample capitalizing on an opportunity to bring more attention to himself. The man seems very comfortable with a microphone, does he not? But some have a natural gift in such situations, this being a press conference to announce that Hample was giving Rodriguez’s 3,000th hit back to him in return for a $150,000 donation to Pitch In For Baseball, a charity he favors. In addition, Hample received a signed jersey and bat from A-Rod.
Did A-Rod have any parking tickets or anything else like that he needed to settle. Today was the day to do it.
