By Cory Armstrong-Hoss / Herald Forum
If my son Cole asks you to take him to a Mariners game, know this: once inside T-Mobile Park, he disappears.
He’s watching the game, but not like you or me.
He’s hunting; down the first- or third-base line near the bases, or close to the bullpen. Since he was 13, Cole has been a ballhawk: a fan who seeks out game balls. Now 16, he’s become a master at the game within the game.
How many balls has he bagged? 38 from the Mariners, between 70 to 80 from the Everett AquaSox, plus a broken bat signed by AquaSox second baseman Josh Hood. I’ve gone to a few dozen baseball games, and I’ve never snagged a ball. But Cole? He often comes home with two or three, a quiet smile spreading across his face when we ask, “Did you get any balls?”
When he was 13, “I got so excited when they were about to throw the ball,” and he discovered that he loved the chase, the hunt. Then he found Zack Hample on YouTube.
With more than 660,000 subscribers and more than 12,000 balls from Major League games, Hample is unquestionably — and controversially — the best ball hawk in the world, ever. His detractors believe that he robs kids of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to catch a foul ball or get a practice ball from an outfielder. His fans, like my son, admire his patience, strategy and technique. “It seemed like he knew exactly where to be all the time,” said Cole, who watched Hample’s videos, fascinated that someone could take the seemingly random and turn it into a science.
Like Hample, Cole spends time pre-game refining his strategy. “I work at it. Plan it out.” He often arrives at T-Mobile Park two hours before a game, eager to catch batting practice or to scout the bullpen.
How does he do it?
“When a pitcher spikes a ball, they switch it out for a new one, and the pitching coach will toss it up.” He positions himself above any stray balls on the bullpen floor, ready to ask a player to toss it his way. And if they throw it to someone else? “I just say, ‘Can I have the next one?’”
He’s even figured out that when umpires exit post-game through a hidden tunnel, they often have balls to spare that they’ll throw to fans.
Ballhawking brings out another side of Cole, who can be subdued in crowds. When he’s hunting, he’s assertive, focused and willing to yell out, to ask for what he wants.
That mindset, coupled with an uncanny sense of timing, has helped Cole build a remarkable collection of MLB and minor-league balls, 17 of them signed. He’s got baseballs signed by Mariners Julio Rodriguez, Mitch Haniger, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena, Andres Munoz, and players from the White Sox, Guardians and Tigers. He keeps the MLB ones, and gives about 40 percent of the AquaSox balls away, mostly to younger kids near him, eager to take home a new memory.
Cole goes to about 10 Mariners games and four AquaSox games each season. Yet he almost always comes home with one or more balls.
His advice to anyone interested in ball hawking: “Bring a glove. Get there early. Be young.”
Next season, if you do get there early you might see another ballhawk named Cole, a kid chasing his dreams around the park, one baseball at a time.
Cory Armstrong-Hoss lives in Everett with his wife and three kids. His kids have played a number of different sports. He’s a lifelong athlete, and he’s served as a coach, referee and youth sports administrator. Find him at substack.com/@atahossforwords
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