Dropped
Fan gives up lawsuit over Sosa's 62nd HR ball
Posted: Friday September 25, 1998 07:13 PM
| |
After sending No. 62 onto Waveland Avenue, Sosa will now get to keep the historic ball AP |
CHICAGO (AP) -- The battle between two Chicago Cubs fans over Sammy Sosa's 62nd
home run ball -- which began in an alley behind Wrigley Field -- ended
Friday with an agreement that the slugging outfielder would get the
souvenir. During a hearing Friday before Circuit Court Judge Michael
Getty, Gary "Moe" Mullins' lawyer said Mullins' lawsuit had been dropped
after he received assurances the ball would be given to Sosa. "The
bottom line was that both sides agreed Sammy Sosa should get the ball,"
lawyer Steven Rapaport said. The St. Louis Cardinals'
Mark McGwire
had already broken Roger Maris' 1961 record of 61 home runs when Sosa
launched No. 62 on September 13, sending the fans on Waveland Avenue
outside Wrigley Field scrambling for the baseball. Getty had issued
a temporary restraining order prohibiting Brendan Cunningham, the suburban
Chicago mortgage broker who has possession of the ball, from selling it or
even giving it back to Sosa until the lawsuit was resolved.
Cunningham's lawyer, Stephen Libman, confirmed Cunningham will give the
ball to Sosa. The ball is currently being held in a safety deposit box.
Mullins, 47, a delivery truck driver, claimed he had possession of the
ball before Cunningham ripped it from his clutches as fans piled on top of
him. He shortly thereafter filed a civil lawsuit. Cunningham, 33,
said he was in the pileup but didn't take the ball from anyone. He had
originally said he would entertain offers for the ball, which he said could
possibly pay for his child's college education, but he later changed his
mind. Cunningham proposed a joint presentation to Sosa but Mullins,
who has been a game-day fixture on the sidewalks outside Wrigley for years,
rejected the idea. "He [Mullins] still feels extremely strongly
about this that it was his and it was stolen from him," Rapaport said. "He
knows it's going to Sammy and he'd rather dismiss the suit than appear with
Mr. Cunningham." Rapaport said Mullins was concerned about lawyer's
fees and coming up with a $50,000 bond the judge had placed on the ball.
"The reason why he dropped it was because we are the lawful
possessor of the ball," Libman said. "I think the lawsuit was groundless. I
think they realized they could never prevail in the case."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
