SAN FRANCISCO —One wants to keep the ball, the other wants to sell it, but both men claim ownership of Barry Bonds' 73rd home run baseball. Now, on the cusp of a trial meant to award the ball to one of them, they will try to hammer out a compromise with the help of a high-powered arbitrator.

Alex Popov, a health food restaurateur, says he caught the ball — which Bonds smacked out of Pacific Bell park in San Francisco on Oct. 7, 2001 — but lost it when he was mugged by a mob that included Patrick Hayashi. Hayashi, a software engineer, says that Popov's grasp on the ball was tenuous to begin with, and Hayashi came up with the ball after it rolled loose in the scuffle.

On Wednesday, the two men and their lawyers will head to the offices of superstar arbitrator Coleman Fannin for their third attempt at settling the dispute. The attempt, Hayashi's lawyer, Don Tamaki, told Courttv.com, will be a one-shot deal: If an agreement is not reached, the trial will likely begin on Thursday.

At $9,000 per day, the services of Fannin, a retired judge, don't come cheap. But when two sides are at such loggerheads, a third-party mediator can be an appealing alternative to trial.

The two men have firm and antithetical conditions to settlement: Popov wants to keep the ball and "honor Mr. Hayashi in some way"; Hayashi wants the ball to be sold at auction where it can get its full market value, currently estimated at more than $1 million.

They reiterated these stances outside the courtroom Monday, where the two men were feet apart physically but "not in the same ballpark" for a settlement, according to Martin Triano, Popov's lawyer.

"I've always been open to talking," said Popov. "I'd just like this piece of baseball history returned to me." Popov said he has no plans to sell the ball and would simply like to share it with his friends, although he said he would be willing to pay Hayashi something in a settlement. Unlike Hayashi, who will pay his lawyers a 33% contingency fee if he wins and sells the ball, Popov has been paying his legal team by the hour.

His bills so far have eclipsed $100,000. "That money could have gone his way," Popov said, nodding toward Hayashi who sat on a wooden bench feet away.

When asked if he would be willing to settle the case right now, Popov replied, "Yes, but in between me and him are his two lawyers."

But Hayashi and his lawyers painted Popov as the stubborn party. "The deal breaker so far is his insistence on keeping the ball," said lawyer Michael Lee, indicating that Hayashi would be willing to divvy up proceeds of the ball's sale at auction if Popov agreed.

"At the end of all of this, if he decides to go to trial … I would be the one to get the ball," Hayashi said confidently.

Hayashi also said he felt stung by Popov's assertions in the media that he had bit and scratched his way to the ball.

"I want him to apologize for things he and his lawyer have said," said Hayashi.

Popov and Hayashi are due in front of San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Ronald Evans Quidachay Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. PT to report the pending arbitration appointment.