Collecting Game-used: Finding Brandon Nimmo's beanball

Brandon Nimmo's path to Major League Baseball and a spot in the New York Mets lineup is far from a traditional one as he grew up in Wyoming where playing high school baseball isn't even an option.

He's a product of American Legion play -- and already a Hall of Famer there -- but that didn't stop him from being taken 13th in the 2011 MLB Draft and making his big-league debut three years ago at age 23. Nimmo, whose first prospect cards can be found in 2011 releases and who has just three Rookie Cards from 2016, was one of the Mets' bright spots last season with 17 homers in 140 games while hitting .263. The homers were third on the team behind Michael Conforto, Todd Frazier and Asdrubal Cabrera ... but that's not why we're here today.

Nimmo led all of MLB with 22 HBPs -- and the ball you see above connected for one last season.

The baseball, a recent find of mine via Steiner Sports for less than a typical flagship box of baseball cards, is MLB Authenticated and Steiner stickered, too, as it was used in a game against the New York Yankees on July 21 last season. That was a 7-6 Yankees win and this particular pitch was a 92.4 mph two-seam fastball from Sonny Gray in the top of the fifth -- Nimmo's 14th beanball of the year, tying the team record -- and first of the game. It was the 17th HBP of his career.

The Getty Images photo you see here is from that game -- and I believe it to be from my beanball, though I can't be 110-percent certain because Nimmo also got pegged by Aroldis Chapman with the bases loaded late in the game to set the new record. (This image did not indicate which inning it was from and both plays appear very similar on video.)

Game-used baseballs are, without question, one of the simplest pieces to find and collect thanks to MLB Authentication and they're getting more collectable in the last couple of years thanks to the details being added to their listings. (Poke around right here on The Buzz and you'll see some game-used baseball mystery box breaks where I've found other exact-match balls.) But finding baseballs with exact matches like this can make for even cooler pieces with a little research and some dumb luck. Thanks to that extra info and plenty of places you can hunt these balls, you can collect certain plays, certain players, something from certain teams or whatever you want.

Heck you can even collect beanballs like this guy.

"My love for these HBP balls began only a year ago when taking in a Cubs game in San Francisco," wrote Ben Aguirre Jr. at the link above. "After the Aug. 7, 2017, game, I headed to the Giants official store at AT&T Park to buy a ball from the game as a memento, hopefully something with Kris Bryant’s name attributed to it. Lo and behold, the only available ball attributed to Bryant was the one that struck him on the left arm in the third inning — a 2-2 92.6 mph fastball that got away from Giants starter Matt Moore."

Check his site to see the photo of his beanball in play -- and others in his HBP stash. It's nice to know I'm not the only one out there who's looking into details on these gamers and finding the photographic evidence that helps them stand out from the rest of the pack.

In case you're still wondering, Nimmo's Rookie Cards are in 2016 Topps Update, Panini National Treasures (/99) and Panini Prime Cuts (/99) -- the last two are autographed-memorabilia cards.

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com