Steve Mears: Harper's 100th homer ball among baseball history

Bryce Harper just hit his 100th home run, and like any milestone home run, you have to wonder if Zack Hample (Google search "Zack Hample ARod 3000 hit") ended up with the baseball or someone else who might want to keep it. Well, we contacted the Boras Corporation and confirmed Harper now has that home run No. 100 baseball. But you might not know that the young girl who caught the ball in Section 140 got the ball and returned it to Harper. Mystery easily solved.

Where is Babe Ruth's 600th home run ball that he hit on August 21, 1931 off of George Blaeholder? No clue. That was 85 years ago. Babe Ruth died 17 years later, and many of his keepsakes disappeared over time. The backstory on where key pieces of sports history end up often turns into a mystery. Now, the Smithsonian Channel brings us a TV show titled "Sports Detectives" that will delve into the mystery surrounding some key pieces of historic sports memorabilia.

"Sports Detectives" feels so much like Washington, D.C., which is a city with the headquarters of the FBI, CIA, NSA and the home to spies. "Sports Detectives" main man is ex-FBI agent Kevin Barrows, who goes on super sleuth treks with his co-star Lauren Gardner. Here is a video.

The show casts a wide net across many sports from boxing (Muhammad Ali) to baseball (Lou Gehrig) to hockey (The Miracle on Ice) that any sports fan can appreciate. It's a show that feels like a fusion of "Law & Order" and "American Pickers." Barrows is very qualified as an investigative reporter, as he was a special agent with the FBI's New York Office assigned to investigate white collar crime. During his six years with the FBI, he directed major financial fraud investigations. He was the lead case agent on two of the largest white collar crime cases in U.S. history and received the U.S. Department of Justice Director's Award for Outstanding Contributions in Law Enforcement. Barrows has appeared on "20/20," "Dateline NBC," HBO and National Geographic's "Inside the American Mob."

Don't miss the series premiere of "Sports Detectives" this Sunday at 9/8c on Smithsonian Channel. Muhammad Ali's missing gold medal. The lost flag from A Miracle on Ice. Join private investigator Barrows and sports reporter Gardner as they investigate the biggest mysteries in sports history. For listings, go to SmithsonianChannel.com.

Steve Mears blogs about the Nationals for Talk Nats. Follow the blog on Twitter: @TalkNats2. His thoughts on the Nationals will appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.