How to snag a major league baseball
Elliott Kalb / Special to FOXSports.com
If there is anything that gets most sports fans excited, it's going to a major league baseball game. Is there anything more exciting that that? For many of us, it's getting something for free. We can combine giddiness when we get something gratis at a baseball game, like a baseball, for example.
I have to admit, despite attending hundreds of baseball games in my lifetime, I've never snagged a foul ball (closest: two rows away from a Danny Cater popup at Yankee Stadium when I was eleven years old; and ducking like a coward from a Darrell Evans liner in Tigers Stadium television booth in 1989).
When I now take my boys to baseball games, I cannot give them the life-lessons they so crave. At NBA games, for instance, teams often use air-guns to "shoot" out free T-shirts. No matter where his assigned seat is, 10-year old Wyatt instinctively darts to an aisle, gets into a Michael Strahan-like three-point stance, and rocks back and forth, awaiting the direction of the blasted tee-shirt (I have found a way to help him in this regard, as this is how he's served his dinner, as well). There is an art to everything, including desperate attempts to get things for free.
Are there any useful tips that I could find?
Zack Hample is the ultimate expert at snagging major league baseballs.
He's literally written the book on the subject (How to Snag Major League Baseballs: More than 100 Tested Tips that Really Work.) After speaking with Zack, and trying to get the picture of him in a bathtub surrounded by 800 baseballs out of my mind, I have decided to share his top ten tips for snagging a major league baseball.
1. Bring rosters of both teams.
It'll help you identify players by their uniform numbers so you can call out to them and ask for balls. You can get the rosters online at MLB.com, then by selecting the teams from the pull-down menu and clicking "roster." Make sure to get the names and numbers of all the coaches, too.
2. Show up early for batting practice.
The stadium is less crowded. Security is less strict. The players are more accessible. Balls are constantly being hit and thrown into the stands. Try to get there before the gates open; so you'll have the whole place to yourself for a few minutes.
3. Bring a glove to the game.
Not only will you save yourself a trip to the first-aid room, but it will show the players that you're there to catch a ball.
Bring a glove, or a fishing net, to help snag a ball. (Linda Kaye / Associated Press)
4. Bring hats of both teams, and switch back and forth depending on who's on the field.
This is especially important for the visiting team. Players love to spot their "fans" on the road and reward them with baseballs.
5. Call players by their first names.
Speak loudly. Raise your voice an octave to sound younger. Always say "please." Most of the players speak English, but you'll impress the foreigners — maybe even make them laugh — if you know how to make a request in Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Turkish. OK, so there are no Turks in Major League Baseball. The point is, there may be one day, and you should be ready!
6. The Glove Trick.
You need to find or invent some gizmo or gadget that you can lower on a string and pluck balls off the ground far below. Rules change from one stadium to another, so make sure that it's not illegal before you try it! And never use your gizmo when play is in action.
7. Be aware of the competition.
Don't stand next to a group of tall men with gloves. Don't stand next to a group of young kids. Players love to hand balls to little kids. (Zack also recommends not standing next to gorgeous women unless, of course, your goal has nothing to do with getting baseballs and everything to do with getting to first base.)
8. Location, location, location.
Zack warns not to get trapped. If you're sitting in the middle of a long row, you have no range. Stairs + aisle = range in all four directions.
9. Play the percentages.
Position yourself differently for lefties and righties. In batting practice, you won't see many opposite field home runs, so if you are in left field when a lefty comes up, move toward the foul pole and into foul territory. Then, hustle back when a right hander comes up. During the game, left handers hit foul tips to the 3rd base side, and righties hit balls to the 1st base side.
10. Pay attention to routines and habits and tendencies.
Get familiar with your local ballpark and the players on the home team. Which gate opens earliest? Who pulls the ball?
Hample just recently snagged his 2,500th major league baseball, a foul tip by Marlon Anderson this month. It's a record that may never be broken.
Of course, why any sane person would spend hours — not to mention a lot of money — trying to get a $10 baseball for free — does not make the most sense. Let's figure this out. Tickets to enough games to research gate-openings and outfielders habits have to come in around $1,000. Let's not quibble over $40 per person for baseball caps at every game (only $20 per person once the home team cap is purchased at the first game). Don't argue about a decent glove from a sporting goods store.
Look, research is research! But if you're going to dive head-first over railings to outrace other fans for a free t-shirt or baseball, maybe you and fanatics like you need to be amongst yourselves, instead of mixing with regular society.
If you follow these tips, you will not live with the three-decade regret of not knocking over a row of fans drinking soft drinks to gather in a Danny Cater foul ball.
Elliott Kalb / Special to FOXSports.com
If there is anything that gets most sports fans excited, it's going to a major league baseball game. Is there anything more exciting that that? For many of us, it's getting something for free. We can combine giddiness when we get something gratis at a baseball game, like a baseball, for example.
I have to admit, despite attending hundreds of baseball games in my lifetime, I've never snagged a foul ball (closest: two rows away from a Danny Cater popup at Yankee Stadium when I was eleven years old; and ducking like a coward from a Darrell Evans liner in Tigers Stadium television booth in 1989).
When I now take my boys to baseball games, I cannot give them the life-lessons they so crave. At NBA games, for instance, teams often use air-guns to "shoot" out free T-shirts. No matter where his assigned seat is, 10-year old Wyatt instinctively darts to an aisle, gets into a Michael Strahan-like three-point stance, and rocks back and forth, awaiting the direction of the blasted tee-shirt (I have found a way to help him in this regard, as this is how he's served his dinner, as well). There is an art to everything, including desperate attempts to get things for free.
Are there any useful tips that I could find?
Zack Hample is the ultimate expert at snagging major league baseballs.
He's literally written the book on the subject (How to Snag Major League Baseballs: More than 100 Tested Tips that Really Work.) After speaking with Zack, and trying to get the picture of him in a bathtub surrounded by 800 baseballs out of my mind, I have decided to share his top ten tips for snagging a major league baseball.
1. Bring rosters of both teams.
It'll help you identify players by their uniform numbers so you can call out to them and ask for balls. You can get the rosters online at MLB.com, then by selecting the teams from the pull-down menu and clicking "roster." Make sure to get the names and numbers of all the coaches, too.
2. Show up early for batting practice.
The stadium is less crowded. Security is less strict. The players are more accessible. Balls are constantly being hit and thrown into the stands. Try to get there before the gates open; so you'll have the whole place to yourself for a few minutes.
3. Bring a glove to the game.
Not only will you save yourself a trip to the first-aid room, but it will show the players that you're there to catch a ball.
Bring a glove, or a fishing net, to help snag a ball. (Linda Kaye / Associated Press)
4. Bring hats of both teams, and switch back and forth depending on who's on the field.
This is especially important for the visiting team. Players love to spot their "fans" on the road and reward them with baseballs.
5. Call players by their first names.
Speak loudly. Raise your voice an octave to sound younger. Always say "please." Most of the players speak English, but you'll impress the foreigners — maybe even make them laugh — if you know how to make a request in Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Turkish. OK, so there are no Turks in Major League Baseball. The point is, there may be one day, and you should be ready!
6. The Glove Trick.
You need to find or invent some gizmo or gadget that you can lower on a string and pluck balls off the ground far below. Rules change from one stadium to another, so make sure that it's not illegal before you try it! And never use your gizmo when play is in action.
7. Be aware of the competition.
Don't stand next to a group of tall men with gloves. Don't stand next to a group of young kids. Players love to hand balls to little kids. (Zack also recommends not standing next to gorgeous women unless, of course, your goal has nothing to do with getting baseballs and everything to do with getting to first base.)
8. Location, location, location.
Zack warns not to get trapped. If you're sitting in the middle of a long row, you have no range. Stairs + aisle = range in all four directions.
9. Play the percentages.
Position yourself differently for lefties and righties. In batting practice, you won't see many opposite field home runs, so if you are in left field when a lefty comes up, move toward the foul pole and into foul territory. Then, hustle back when a right hander comes up. During the game, left handers hit foul tips to the 3rd base side, and righties hit balls to the 1st base side.
10. Pay attention to routines and habits and tendencies.
Get familiar with your local ballpark and the players on the home team. Which gate opens earliest? Who pulls the ball?
Hample just recently snagged his 2,500th major league baseball, a foul tip by Marlon Anderson this month. It's a record that may never be broken.
Of course, why any sane person would spend hours — not to mention a lot of money — trying to get a $10 baseball for free — does not make the most sense. Let's figure this out. Tickets to enough games to research gate-openings and outfielders habits have to come in around $1,000. Let's not quibble over $40 per person for baseball caps at every game (only $20 per person once the home team cap is purchased at the first game). Don't argue about a decent glove from a sporting goods store.
Look, research is research! But if you're going to dive head-first over railings to outrace other fans for a free t-shirt or baseball, maybe you and fanatics like you need to be amongst yourselves, instead of mixing with regular society.
If you follow these tips, you will not live with the three-decade regret of not knocking over a row of fans drinking soft drinks to gather in a Danny Cater foul ball.
