Hample, 38, shouldn’t have been allowed inside the game between the Marlins and Braves at Fort Bragg because tickets to the game were non-transferrable and those who attended and didn’t fall in either of those categories could be removed, fans said.
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On Sunday night, Fort Bragg hosted the Marlins’ 5-2 victory over the Braves, the first regular-season game, in any major professional sport, played on an active military base. Tickets were awarded only through a lottery system to active members of the military with U.S. Department of Defense identification.
Enough was enough. Somebody started a petition to get Zack Hample banned from every single Major League Baseball stadium. He also snagged Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th hit, a home run.
Many commenters on Twitter suggested he give any balls he caught to kids and leave the game immediately.
The Fort Bragg ballpark was built from scratch in less than four months at a sprawling Army post that’s home to 55,000 service members, including the famed paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division.
But from the looks of it, Hample stayed for the entirety of the game.
Hample also claims he received 11 balls during the game, 10 of which he gave away, and wrote a $1,100 check (100 bucks per ball) to a charity for veterans.
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This video includes clips from ESPN and Fox Sports and images from Getty Images.
