Ball Could End Up in Someone’s Courthouse

Barry Bonds hit it and Alex Popov may have caught it, but Patrick Hayashi emerged from a scrum of Giant fans to become the happy owner of the ball the San Francisco slugger smacked Sunday for his 73rd homer.

“I am just savoring the moment,” Hayashi, 36, said in an e-mail, his only public comment so far.

Television footage shows that Popov gloved the ball but was mobbed by a crush of clawing fans. Someone ripped the ball from his mitt and it ended up in Hayashi’s hands.

Now the catcher on the fly is brandishing a videotape and a lawyer, saying that if Hayashi doesn’t give back the ball he will seek criminal charges.

Giant officials aren’t swayed.

“Once Major League Baseball identifies the individual with possession of the ball, that’s the end of that,” said Jorge Costa, Giant senior vice president of ballpark operations.

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Trivia time: Which coach holds the Pacific 10 Conference record for bowl victories?

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Dumb and dumber: Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post: “For the first time, we have a tie for the dumbest media question of the day. In the midst of several questions about his hip, Bill Romanowski was asked, ‘You think it will be with you the whole season?’

“Then there was the late-arriving TV guy who liked Jimmy Spencer’s answer to a previous question so much, he said to him, ‘Say that again, what you just said, but in front of the camera.”’

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Perspective: Boxing’s oldest active trainer, Charlie Costantino, will be feted by the Golden State Boxer’s Assn. when he turns 91 on Nov. 3 at a luncheon in Hollywood.

Asked if there is any difference when you reach 91, Costantino replied: “Yes, there is very little peer pressure.”

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Spendthrift: A tennis fan paid $37,000 at auction to play England’s Tim Henman on Wimbledon’s Center Court, which never has hosted a match involving a member of the public.

The match will be played in front of no more than 25 people, the week after the 2002 Wimbledon Championship, said a spokeswoman for Henman. She declined to identify the fan.

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Take your pick: Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse has this take on the first-round playoff series between the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics: “The old pros vs. the dead-end kids. The three-time defending champs vs. the upstarts who let ‘em off the hook a year ago.

“Plus, there’s this conflict: We’re all in New York’s corner now, which would mean cheering for the Yankees, which also would mean cheering for George Steinbrenner. Folks, if you can’t get into this, stick to NASCAR.”

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Trivia answer: Don James of Washington, 10.

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And finally: Bob Cousy, a Hall of Fame player with the Celtics, commenting to Will McDonough of the Boston Globe on Michael Jordan’s comeback:

“If he went to the Lakers [instead of the Wizards], he wouldn’t have to be the Show. Shaq and Kobe are the show.

“He could play 15 minutes a game, not have to carry the team, and he could have left with another ring.”

Michael in a secondary role? No way, Bob.