Alex Popov is always forced to remember anniversaries.

Today, the 38-year old health food store owner will remember the 10-month anniversary of the day he says he caught Barry Bonds' 73rd home run ball. In two months, on Oct. 7, he'll remember the one-year anniversary of the event as a 12-person jury will begin to hear arguments in Popov's case against Patrick Hayashi, who Popov alleges stole the ball from him in the pile-on at Pac Bell Park.

But the bad memories and the legal battle won't stop Popov from going to the ballpark tonight to try to catch No. 600 if Bonds hits it.

With Bonds just one home run away from becoming the fourth player in baseball history to hit 600 home runs, Popov told ESPN.com that he's going to every San Francisco Giants home game until Bonds hits it.

"I've been looking at the stats and tapes of his last 15 homers," he said. "I have a spot in mind where he'll probably hit it."

Popov said Bonds' 599th home run landed 60 feet from his glove Tuesday night. His gut feeling is that Bonds will hit No. 600 in Thursday's series finale against the Cubs, but he'd prefer that the slugger do it on Friday night against the Pirates, when he'll be sitting in the first row of the right field arcade (section 146).

The Giants will have full security in the stands and the city's police department marine unit will monitor McCovey Cove, where fans wait in watercraft in hopes that the ball leaves the park. Major League Baseball is using infrared marks on all the potential No. 600 balls, so that the one Bonds hits out of the park can be authenticated.

The home run ball will be worth between $100,000 and $200,000, according to sports collectibles appraiser Simeon Lipman of Gotta Have It! Auctions. Brandon Steiner, chairman of Steiner Sports Memorabila, agreed with Lipman's dollar range because "the ball is not a record breaker."

"It's definitely a one-of-a-kind piece, but I think the value of the ball might have decreased because of the fighting over Bonds' 73rd home run ball," Lipman said.

Michael Barnes, who represented the owners of Mark McGwire home run balls in 1998 and is currently representing the owner of Bonds' No. 500, estimates Bonds' No. 600 will be worth in "the mid- to upper six figures."

"Because a 600 home run ball has never hit the market, the estimates for Bonds' 600 are wide open," Barnes said.

The No. 73 ball, which will remain locked up in a safe-deposit box until the trial's conclusion, is said to be worth as much as $2 million. McGwire's 70th home run ball sold in February 1999 for $3 million to comic book and figurine mogul Todd McFarlane.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espnpub.com