SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The trial over which of two baseball fans should keep Barry Bonds' historic 73rd home run ball is nearing its last inning in court.

Closing arguments were scheduled to continue Monday, and the judge wants lawyers for the two fans to explain what exactly they mean by "possession."

The ball, perhaps worth $1 million because it set baseball's single-season home run record, landed in Alex Popov's glove for at least an instant. In the ensuing pileup, however, the ball popped out and Patrick Hayashi ended up pocketing it.

That was Oct. 7, 2001, in the right field bleachers of the San Francisco Giants' Pacific Bell Park.

Popov sued, and the two men have been in court for two weeks of trial.

Judge Kevin M. McCarthy asked and re-asked this question: at what point does someone who gets a glove on a ball actually possess it?

Both sides agree that a TV news videotape shows the ball in Popov's glove for at least six-tenths of a second before the crowd enveloped him.

Popov claims he held it longer than that before it was stolen from his glove -- Hayashi claims Popov dropped it.

On Friday, lawyers for the two men quibbled over most facts of the case.

All the nuances will help McCarthy answer whether the tape shows Popov possessed the ball -- and thus should own it.

"OK, there was some degree of control, and I'm struggling with how much control there must be," McCarthy said Friday.

He described a "gray area" between securely catching the ball and never touching it.

"We can't get out of (the gray area)," McCarthy said. "We're stuck in it. It's kind of like the Twilight Zone."

McCarthy will likely take weeks, if not months, to issue a written decision, and the losing party will likely appeal, dragging the case out for years.