Man who caught A-Rod's 3,000th hit won't give ball back to Yankees

Despite being offered "tons of memorabilia and promotion" by the New York Yankees, the baseball-snagging expert who got his hands on A-Rod's 3,000th hit Friday won't give the ball back to the team, according to a Newsday report.

Despite being offered "tons of memorabilia and promotion" by the New York Yankees, the baseball- expert who got his hands on A-Rod's 3,000th hit Friday won't give the ball back to the team, according to a Newsdayreport. 

Zack Hample, a New York native who wrote a book on catching stray baseballs in the stands at games, said he has no intention of giving the ball back - even to A-Rod himself. 

Rodriguez clubbed a home run on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first inning Friday to earn hit No. 3,000, becoming only the 29th player in Major League history to accomplish the feat. 

Hample can be seen on video in a brownish-green shirt jumping for the ball in the right field stands along with several fans. 

Hample later returned to his seat and tweeted a photo of him holding history. 

Here's A-Rod's 3,000th hit/ball. Told the @Yankees I'm keeping it. Got it authenticated by @MLB. This is un-REAL. pic.twitter.com/qEo2qX9Iru

— Zack Hample (@zack_hample) June 20, 2015

• CORCORAN: Steroids or not, A-Rod's career deserves appreciation