MIAMI — Justin Kimball says he never wanted 15 minutes of this kind of fame.
The 25-year-old aspiring musician bought a ticket for the Florida Marlins’ game with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night, hoping for that once-in- a-lifetime brush with history. He was in the right-field seats, envisioning that Ken Griffey Jr., one of his boyhood idols, would hit career home run No. 600 into his waiting hands.
Kimball says the miracle happened. His attorneys have nine witnesses saying the same.
But the Marlins say his recollection isn’t true, and video replays don’t conclusively support the claim, either.
So here we go again: The rights to yet another historic baseball — like the one Barry Bonds hit for his 73rd home run in 2001 and Bonds’ 762nd career homer last year — will likely be decided in a courtroom.
It’s a bizarre tale of a singer and his wool hat, a man in a Sergio Mitre replica jersey who only goes by “Joe,” grainy replays that seem to prove nothing, along with claims of foul, thievery and dishonesty.
“It’s all really weird,” Kimball said Thursday. “It makes me sick to my stomach.”
Kimball has filed suit in Miami-Dade County court, alleging, among other things, that “Joe” committed civil theft and civil battery against him.
And as if this all wasn’t enough drama, the story got more odd Thursday: Kimball’s side also says people — they weren’t identified — at the stadium informed their office that the infamous “Joe” struck again Wednesday night, and wrestled Dan Uggla’s game- ending grand slam away from a woman whose hands were on that ball, too.
“This guy is apparently a magnet,” said Robert Zarco, one of the attorneys representing Kimball for free.
