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Alex Popov v. Patrick Hayashi
California Superior Court case regarding ownership of Barry Bonds' record 73 homerun ball in 2001.
Dec. 18, 2002
Format - Abobe PDF
File Size - 423kb
In 1927, Babe Ruth hit sixty home runs. That record stood for thirty four years until Roger Maris broke it in 1961 with sixty one home runs. Mark McGwire hit seventy in 1998. On October 7, 2001, at PacBell Park in San Francisco, Barry Bonds hit number seventy three. That accomplishment set a record which, in all probability, will remain unbroken for years into the future.
The event was widely anticipated and received a great deal of attention.
The ball that found itself at the receiving end of Mr. Bond's bat garnered some of that attention. Baseball fans in general, and especially people at the game, understood the importance of the ball. It was worth a great deal of money1 and whoever caught it would bask, for a brief period of time, in the reflected fame of Mr. Bonds.
With that in mind, many people who attended the game came prepared for the possibility that a record setting ball would be hit in their direction. Among this group were plaintiff Alex Popov and defendant Patrick Hayashi. They were unacquainted at the time. Both men brought baseball gloves, which they anticipated using if the ball came within their reach.
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