Greenberg and Cuban went toe-to-toe for nearly 15 hours, and once Greenberg elevated his cash bid to $385 million, Cuban looked at him.
"He winked, and gave me this nod,'' Greenberg said in the bar celebration. "I knew then that we did it. He couldn't have been more gracious. He pushed us hard. I have respect for the way he stayed in this thing.''
Cuban said: "We're disappointed we didn't win. But we accomplished a lot what we wanted to accomplish. This will allow them to put more money on the field instead of third parties.''
When asked if he would still be interested one day in purchasing a major-league team, Cuban said: "We'll have to see. Hold on, I just got a call from Jamie McCourt [co-owner of the Los Angles Dodgers].''
Cuban laughed, but while he was on his way home in defeat, Greenberg and his staff were celebrating.