Walker Browning was a computer programmer for Springbok Electronics, employed in creating data disks for Global Positioning Satellite units. He was fired in or around October 2002. Going to a baseball game on an invitation from his friend, Browning happened to be the fan who caught a baseball hit by star player Darryl Grant, marking the new record for home runs hit in a single season. The ball, a "little piece of history," was therefore worth around $3 million.