Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927. Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961. Mark McGwire hit 70 in 1998. But in 2001, Barry Bonds surpassed them all. He wrote his name in the baseball record book with 73. His final home run that season also went into the law books. The game was held on October 7 in San Francisco. In anticipation of catching the record-setting ball, fans crowded into the outfield stands. Amongst them were Alex Popov and Patrick Hayashi. In the bottom of the first inning, Bonds connected with a knuckleball and sent it over the right field wall. The video evidence clearly shows the ball starting to enter the upper portion of Popov's outstretched baseball glove. Popov did not, however, have a chance to complete the catch. He was immediately swallowed up by the crowd and tackled to the ground. A mob descended on Popov with the obvious intention of seizing control of the ball. In the commotion, several other fans, including Hayashi, were knocked to the ground. A short time later, Hayashi crawled from the melee, stood up with the ball in his hand and was quickly whisked away by security personnel. A dispute then arose regarding ownership of the record-setting ball. There is no suggestion that Hayashi had participated in any of the violence. Popov did insist, however, that he had already acquired ownership of the ball by the time that Hayashi grabbed it off the ground. He also insisted that Hayashi therefore committed the tort of conversion (discussed in Chapter 4) when he took possession of the ball. The motivation for the lawsuit was, of course, profit. Although a baseball is normally worth only a few dollars, collectors are willing to pay a fortune for historical memorabilia. (For instance, the ball that Mark McGwire hit to set the record in 1998 was purchased for US $3 200 000.) Who owned the ball? Hayashi? Popov? Or perhaps the party (Major League Baseball) that had purchased the ball in the first place? Explain your answer.