SAN FRANCISCO -- A jury will decide who gets the ball Barry Bonds hit for his record 73rd homer.

Two men claimed ownership of the ball, which has an estimated value of $1 million, and each wanted Judge James J. McBride to grant him possession without a trial.

But in a decision received by lawyers Thursday, McBride rejected the claims of both Alex Popov -- who briefly got a glove on the ball before a mob tackled him in the bleachers of Pacific Bell Park -- and Patrick Hayashi, who grabbed the ball amid the chaos.

McBride ruled there is a question whether Popov actually controlled the ball in his glove, and that a jury should determine the answer. The ball is now in a court-monitored safe.

The case will resume before another judge Oct. 7, exactly one year after the San Francisco Giants' slugger hit the last homer of his record-setting season.

The ball Mark McGwire hit for his then-record 70th home run sold for $2.7 million in 1998.

McBride supported the assertion that there is evidence of a catch, said Martin Triano, Popov's lawyer. The judge also rejected Hayashi's assertion that the struggle for the ball was a competition -- in which people were sure to get jostled -- and that Hayashi simply won.

"I'm delighted with that,'' Triano said Thursday.

Hayashi's lawyers also were pleased, saying the judge had undercut Popov's two main contentions: that the video proves he caught the ball, and that Hayashi assaulted him in the pileup.

In his ruling, McBride did dismiss Popov's assault claims against Hayashi, although Triano promised to challenge that decision at trial based on the testimony of one eyewitness.

According to Hayashi's lawyers, McBride also doubted Popov's claim that the video establishes beyond dispute that he caught the ball.

"It's not a catch if you drop the ball,'' said lawyer Don Tamaki. "The wheels are coming off Popov's case.''