If you don’t know who Zack Hample is, read here, here and here.
Hample caught Mike Stanton’s home run in the 8th inning of last night’s Mets/Marlins game. He proceeded to celebrate like he’s never caught a home run ball before.
Here’s why I like him: Catching a home run ball is tough. I’ve been to many games and never come close. I’ve been lucky enough to have someone give me a batting practice ball from Shea Stadium as a few players tossed her one each. But to collect over 4,000 balls is beyond luck. It’s beyond chance. It’s downright crazy.
I know Hample plans and begs and does everything under his power to acquire these balls, but it’s still not something to be laughed at. It’s quite an “accomplishment” and a testament to a die-hard fan who really knows what he want to do with his life(?).
Why I don’t: Really? This is your life’s work? Collecting over 4,000 baseballs from stadiums and then celebrating like it’s your first? Come on, kid. Act like you’ve been there before.
If I managed to catch one, or anyone else for that matter, they would be allowed to dance and sing and high five everyone around them with glee. You, you should just go sit back down and notch another stadium off your list in your notebook.
But what really irks me is that over the years you’ve been doing this, you’ve taken away that joy of catching a home run ball or being tossed a BP ball by a player from 4,000 other kids and fans. You’ve felt the joy thousands of times over that some other people never will, because of your strange and obsessive quest to obtain those little spherical objects.
Frankly, I say give it up. Let the rest of us have your fun. You’ve made your mark on baseball and society. It’s our turn now.
“He wanted to get out there and get a good lead, and steal a base right away. He got kind of caught up in the emotion just a little bit.”
This masked man is not the Marlins next manager.
“We have probably taken that too far, the pitch count. We have trained the mind to think that they can only throw a certain amount of pitches. If you train to finish the game regardless of what it took, then I think the pitch count would be different. We've trained people to be somewhat limited because injury is a possibility.”
“My honest feeling is that he will make a push to be in Puerto Rico. That's home. He might end up there. I don't know.”
“He was my Yale. And Felipe Alou was my Harvard.”
“We like to win every game we can. When all is said and done, however, if you would have told me that we'd go 7-2 on this nine-game road trip, I'd take it.”
“There will be times when it appears to be some frustration. But he lets it out, and he gets back to playing baseball.”
“I did not envision him being able to have a dominant game like he had the last game.”
“When [Jose] Reyes gets on, he can be disruptive. The top of our lineup can run and we like to use it.”
“I approach it like I'm here to manage this team for a 162-game season.”
“The offense kind of carried us today. The offense pretty much took over the game.”
Who would’ve thunk it? Not I.
“I guess that is hard to believe. Is that right? Wow.”
As I relayed all the way back on 
“He fights, scratches, claws, no matter what we're doing offensively.”
“We have to continue this once we leave the house here.”
“He can navigate.”
“That's a tremendous problem to have.”
Can you guess this Met? Leave your guess in the comments!
“[Ruben] Tejada is a young player that right now. I kind of like to pick and choose his battles.”
“This, purely, is Oliver Perez. Oliver Perez came in and said his knee is bothering him.”
“One thing about Murph is that he’s a baseball player.”
See you in 2011, Murphy.
Armando Galarraga should have pitched a perfect game. Jim Joyce’s blatantly wrong call at first base erased all hope. But you can’t overturn it.
“I can't watch him walk around out there like that. Come on Luis. Come on home and sit over here by me for a minute.”
Daniel Murphy, who was playing second base for the Bisons, was injured and had to be carried off the field.
“You have to continue to get him an opportunity to pitch, and hopefully he'll figure out some things.”
I, like MLBTR, had been reporting that Alex Cora’s option vested at 80 starts. Adam Rubin corrects us both and reports that it’s 80 games.
“The fact that we didn't throw strikes, that always bothers me.”
Seriously, you don’t want to know.