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Trial scheduled for next week in Bonds home run ball disputeMediator strikes out
By Matt Bean
SAN FRANCISCO (Court TV) -- After a failed last-ditch attempt at settlement, two men fighting over a historic baseball will finally take their dispute to court -- and only one will walk away with the ball. The trial to determine who owns Barry Bonds' record-setting 73rd home run will begin Tuesday at 9 a.m. in San Francisco Superior Court. Alex Popov, 37, a health food restaurateur says he caught Bonds' historic homer on October 7, 2001, and held onto it in a pack of fans until it was torn from his hands. Patrick Hayashi, also 37, a software engineer from Sacramento, claims that the ball rolled loose and he plucked it from the ground. Popov is suing Hayashi for the ball, which has an estimated value of $1 million. Popov and his lawyers have attempted to cast the trial as more than a simple property dispute. "This is more than a baseball," Popov said outside court Thursday. "This is about right versus wrong." Hayashi, whose refrain has been, "It's not a catch if you drop the ball," might agree. To him, the scramble in the stands over the ball was fair. "That's part of the culture of the game as we know it," he said. On Thursday, assigning Judge Ronald Evans Quidachay scheduled the Tuesday trial, which will be heard by Superior Court Judge Kevin McCarthy. Last-minute talks with a $9,000-a-day mediator failed Wednesday, setting up next week's battle, which could last as long as three weeks. While Popov and Hayashi continue their courtroom fight, the San Francisco Giants are contending with the St. Louis Cardinals for a World Series berth. In last night's game, Bonds helped his team to a victory in the best-of-seven series.
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