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The Scene at Pac Bell Park on Oct. 7, 2001 Described By Fan/Witness
Jeff Hacker (From a Written Declaration)

"I saw Alex Popov catch the ball, meaning go into his glove, and immediately thereafter, the momentum of the crowd surging to the ball caused Popov and those near him (including me) to fall into the bottom of the pile-up...

Like everyone else in the pile-up, I was hoping to recover the 73rd home run ball. While I saw the ball enter Popov’s glove and saw him go down with it, I cannot attest that he held it securely or maintained control of it after hitting the ground. I was also thinking that he might drop it as a result of his falling or the ball might come loose as a result of his impact with the ground, raising the possibility that it was rolling around somewhere. If the ball came loose in this way, I would have considered it a free ball, and if I was lucky enough to get it, I would think I would be entitled to keep it.

I heard Popov yell words to the effect of "Get off me" and "I’ve got the ball!" After I heard him say these words, I assumed that Popov still had the 73rd home run ball. I was down under the pile for some time waiting for people to get off of me.

When I was finally able to get off him, and Popov opened up his glove, Popov was holding a ball upon which I could see letters wrapped around the ball, and I could see the letters "SUC." It was obvious that this ball was not the real 73rd home run ball."