Collecting Game-used: Getting a little more than advertised

It's the little things ...

I'm nearly at the end of my dozen game-used balls I picked up long ago from the Phillies -- hard to pass 'em up at $10 apiece with BallQubes -- and this one has been at the bottom of the box awaiting its Collecting Game-used turn with a pair of veterans attached here and more than one pitch in an at-bat, too, as part of one player's first full season in The Show.

Is it a win? For the price, sure, but only one of the two is probably a "collector" name now ... and certainly not to the degree that he might have once been, though he has a World Series ring.

Keep reading to see the details this time ... and the ball in action.

THE BASICS ...
Game-used ball (MLB Authenticated): Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies, April 8, 2019
Watch it in action: Pitch 1 & Pitch 2 & Pitch 3... via MLB Film Room

The matchup: Phillies SP Vince Velasquez vs. Nationals CF Victor Robles
The result: Three pitches -- two strikes, one ball -- during a fifth-inning at-bat as part of a 4-3 Phillies win.

What's Buzz-worthy: This one is among my last balls from a past stashing of a dozen dirt-cheap gamers from Philly (like I said, I couldn't pass at $10 a pop!) and it's one that actually had a little more action attached to it than what was initially teased. The label/listing from the team simply showed "ball" but this one actually was a called strike, a big swinging whiff and a ball in the dirt that bounced off of J.T. Realmuto and rolled between Robles' legs up the line to the grass before being taken out of play. You can see its entire MLB life in the three videos linked above. This game was Robles' ninth of the season (43rd of career thanks to two previous small stints) which saw him finish sixth in the National League Rookie of The Year voting. There really aren't any numbers attached here as two pitches later Robles flew out to end the inning ... this is just a ball with some mild star power and still some mild potential. Robles was a top-10 prospect when he arrived and he's in his seventh season as a 26-year-old -- but the bit where the ball rolls between his legs and they all look down at it amused me. It's the little things ...

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