SAN FRANCISCO — Two men fighting over ownership of a record-setting home run baseball are headed to trial after a day of 11th-hour negotiations with a high-powered mediator proved unsuccessful.

According to a press release, Alex Popov, Patrick Hayashi and their lawyers "had extensive confidential conversations but were unable to resolve or settle today ... we are now proceeding to trial."

The year-long battle between Popov and Hayashi began Oct. 7, 2001, the final day of the San Francisco Giants' 2001 season. Popov was the first to get a glove on the ball, Barry Bonds' record-setting 73rd home run, in the right field catwalk of Pacific Bell park. He was brought down in a pile of fans from which Hayashi emerged later with the prized ball.

The scuffle lasted less than a minute. But the battle over the ball, which is estimated to be worth $1 million, will be played out in a San Francisco courtroom in a trial that could last as long as three weeks.

Both sides are expected to perform a frame-by-frame analysis of a videotape shot by a local news cameraman that shows Popov's catch and the ensuing melee. Both also plan to call eyewitnesses to the ballpark scuffle.

Popov's claim is that he had the ball in his possession, if only until he was brought down by the mob. One expert witness, University of Tulsa law professor Paul Finkelman, is expected to testify that precedents for the baseball dispute exist in old hunting and whaling law, as well as law governing abandoned property.

Hayashi's legal team has maintained, "It's not a catch if you drop the ball." Hayashi says he plucked the ball off the ground after it rolled loose.

The summit Wednesday, led by retired judge Coleman Fannin, a $9,000-per-day mediator, was the third attempt to resolve the dispute before trial. Neither team would reveal what sticking points remained after their full day of talks. But the parties at the center of the case tipped their hands Tuesday.

Surrounded by a hoard of reporters, Popov said he wanted to keep the ball, but was willing to "honor Mr. Hayashi in some way," presumably with cash. Hayashi, on the other hand, said he wanted to auction the ball and divvy up the proceeds.

Court will begin Thursday at 9:30 a.m. PT if the assigning judge, Roger Evans Quidachay, sends it to trial as expected.