No deal: Fan says he’ll keep A-Rod’s historic home run ball

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The fan at Yankee Stadium who wound up with the ball that Alex Rodriguez launched for his 3,000th hit is holding on to the prize souvenir.

For now, anyway.

“Told the Yankees I’m keeping it,” Zack Hample tweeted during the game Friday night.

The 37-year-old Hample describes himself as a pro at catching home run balls, is credited with collecting more than 8,000 of them and has written books about the art.

Hample was sitting in the right-field seats and got the ball Rodriguez hit for a home run in the first inning against Detroit.

A day earlier, Hample tweeted “that man deserves favors from no one, least of all a fan.”

After catching the ball, Hample told reporters he had envisioned catching it as “a one-in-a-million” possibility.

“I don’t know right now if I’m going to sell it,” he said. “Depending on what the Yankees could offer, I would consider giving it back.”