Up for Grabs

D: Michael Wranovics

Documentary Feature Competition, World Premiere

On Oct. 7, 2001, Barry Bonds launched his record-setting 73rd homer into the outfield stands of San Francisco’s Pac Bell Park. In the bedlam that ensued, the man who walked away with the potential million-dollar ball was not the same man who claims to have caught it and then to have been “mugged” in the pile. This is the story of these two men’s refusal to overcome their greed and stubbornness and the court case that follows. Amazingly, there was a local TV news camera a mere 20 feet or so from where Bonds’ ball lands, and this tape, as well as the conflicting stories of the witnesses, becomes the prime evidence in this ridiculous case. At one point the judge decides to hold a seminar with law professors to discuss the fundamental principles of the “law of possession,” and even the lawyers cannot agree. Why couldn’t they listen to Bonds’ advice and just split the damn thing 50/50?

(Paramount, March 19, 4:45pm)

This article appears in March 19 • 2004.

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