Collecting Game-used: A big win from the MLB bargain bin

Earlier this week -- Tuesday, actually -- I got lured into grabbing a couple of game-used balls from the bargain bin of the St. Louis Cardinals via MLB.com after the team's Authentics division sent out an email revealing a slasher sale on 2020 game-used baseballs.

After all, a new year is here and there are already plenty more fresh gamers coming their way.

What I didn't expect from a blind-bag kind of buy was a strong pairing far more impressive than the $22.99 price tag might lead you to believe -- and my strategies for potentially landing a stronger ball paid off, too. What do I mean? Well, they let you pick the date of your ball -- at least if the date is available -- and I quickly scouted the schedule to land upon Game 1 of a doubleheader from an interleague match-up last September that had a pair of notable starters and a whole lot of runs scored ... meaning more chances at a key ball between the throwers or the hitters. (It's also worth noting again that the MLB Film Room also adds value to the basic balls out there en masse, too, as you can easily find clips of plays ... even the mundane ones.)

I did two baseballs to get free shipping and to help my odds ... and it worked. Twice.

You can keep reading to see the details ... and one ball in action.

THE BASICS ...
Game-used ball (MLB Authenticated): Detroit Tigers vs. St. Louis Cardinals, Sept. 10, 2020 (Game 1)
Watch it in action: Click above to see its finale ... click here for the other authenticated play.

The matchup: Tigers SP Tarik Skubal vs. Cardinals 1B Paul Goldschmidt
The result: A ball and then a swinging strike for an inning-ending strikeout

What's Buzz-worthy: The starters here were Skubal in just his fifth big-league appearance and Cy Young candidate Jack Flaherty -- and the score of this one was a 12-2 Cardinals win at home, so I figured there would be plenty of possibilities. What I didn't expect was to land was the first of Skubal's three strikeouts that day -- a K of former All-Star Paul Goldschmidt -- and the ball for just his 15th career strikeout. He's still eligible for Rookie of the Year honors this season and strikeouts are a big part of his game with 212 in 145 MiLB innings (two seasons) and 37 in his first 32 innings as a Tiger last year so it's a nice piece for the price. (It's also career strikeout No. 1,246 for the Goldy fans out there.) You can see the no-nonsense play in the video above thanks to the Film Room, and then I linked to the other play attached to the ball's authentication above, too. The ball is dirty, so I'd bet that if I could find the full game video (I didn't see it anywhere) it might have been used for more plays and perhaps even more batters. (The Film Room shows a foul ball before this one's documentation didn't rally go out of the infield grass area, so that play could easily be this ball ... and it's got dirt on it from somewhere.) The Cardinals apparently don't put much love on opponent-focused baseballs -- this one's original price was just $40 and that's low compared to a lot of teams, which put premium prices on strikeouts and hits. I also say that since my second ball from this deal had an original price tag nearly double that of this one -- it's good in different ways but is not as impressive as this one. It just cost more being attached to a home-team guy. I could have been out chasing blaster boxes on Tuesday but instead this was a fun surprise ... and it's got some dollar-potential down the line if Skubal ends up being a long-term star.

>> See all past Collecting Game-used stories from Buzz here

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