Friends file suit against friend who caught No. 600
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ESPN.com news services
SAN FRANCISCO -- It's deja vu all over again: Giants slugger Barry Bonds hits a historic home run and the man who ends up with it after a fight in the bleachers gets sued.
Last October it was a tussle over Bonds' record-setting 73rd home run of the season -- one man got a glove on it, but another took it home.
This time, it's a guy who got a ticket to the game after allegedly promising workmates to split any profits on the remote chance he caught Bonds' 600th career home run ball.
That's just what Jay Arsenault, a 36-year-old carpenter from Vacaville, did Aug. 9 in the bleachers of Pacific Bell Park.
Now, ball in glove, he's allegedly reneging on a promise to share the wealth, according to three former friends who have filed suit in Solano County Court. The story was first reported in the Fairfield Daily Republic.
On Tuesday, a judge issued a temporary restraining order, saying the ball may not be sold.
Arsenault and the baseball have been ordered to appear in court Sept. 5 for a hearing. But there's no guarantee they'll show -- he wasn't in court Tuesday and the lawyer his former buddies hired can't be sure the ball hasn't been sold.
''It's a sad case in a sense, because this was an agreement between friends and money got in the way,'' said attorney Curtis Floyd.
Arsenault did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
The night he emerged, bloodied, from the bleachers, he was quoted by as saying ''Money talks.''
Just like the lawsuit over who owns No. 73, the battle over No. 600 is making the rounds on sports talk radio.
Told of the story Tuesday, Hall of Fame basketball player and radio host Rick Barry said he was appalled.
''What kind of friends are these guys?'' asked Barry, who broadcasts for San Francisco-based KNBR. Barry suggested Arsenault take his friends on a trip.
Under California law, a verbal agreement by informed and willing parties can be enforceable as a contract. A contract is what Floyd claimed Arsenault made with construction firm workmate Tim Fisher, who scored the tickets from the two other plaintiffs.
Fisher's roommate swore in court documents that he witnessed a conversation during which the two friends discussed how they had a premonition one would catch the ball, how famous and rich that would make them -- and how they'd split the value with two other workmates who had offered the tickets.
That was the condition Fisher accepted when he took the seats from Brett Warder and Eric Bergen.
''There's thousands of these kinds of agreements made between people everyday,'' Floyd said. ''People need to understand, they are enforceable.''
The home run ball will be worth between $100,000 and $200,000, sports collectibles appraiser Simeon Lipman of Gotta Have It! Auctions told ESPN.com. Brandon Steiner, chairman of Steiner Sports Memorabila, agreed with Lipman's dollar range because "the ball is not a record breaker."
"It's definitely a one-of-a-kind piece, but I think the value of the ball might have decreased because of the fighting over Bonds' 73rd home run ball," Lipman said. Michael Barnes, who represented the owners of Mark McGwire home run balls in 1998 and is currently representing the owner of Bonds' No. 500, estimates Bonds' No. 600 will be worth in "the mid- to upper six figures."
"Because a 600 home run ball has never hit the market, the estimates for Bonds' 600 are wide open," Barnes said.
Perhaps Arsenault and Fisher might have followed the advice Bonds offered the two fans still tussling over No. 73:
''If there's a dispute, you guys have a better chance to split the money than going to court,'' Bonds said at a news conference. ''Giving it to a lawyer, that's ridiculous. Those two guys could have said, 'Here. Let's take it to an auction. Whatever we get, let's split it.' That would have solved their problem.''
