I hear ya. I was thinking if you could find a ball, then you'd be set - depending on how the badly the mast base is damaged (i.e. if the hole for the pin in the mast base is the only thing busted - but otherwise usable, you could still use that mast base with a new ball and tie down the base of the mast).

My last sentence was counting those manufacturers out as suppliers because they use a different set up. Sorry it wasn't clear (probably still isn't!!!).