Collecting Game-used: One of a kind & also found on cardboard

I didn't need it, but once I saw this ... I knew I had to have it.

This month's entry in the Collecting Game-used series is an item that sat out there on the auction block for some time. One day I noticed the name and wondered, given its unique look, whether it was the kind of piece that could be could be narrowed down to an exact when and where of it all and be photo-matched. It turns out that the piece is a one-of-a-kind item and any and all photos of the player from that day are, without question, that item.

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

THE BASICS ...
Game-used batting helmet -- City Connect style (MLB Authenticated as team-issued): Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals -- Sept. 29,  2024
Watch it in action: Three pitches (watched strike, ball, swinging strike) before a base hit as seen below via the MLB Film Room

The matchup: Nationals rookie pinch-hitter Darren Baker vs. Phillies RP Jose Ruiz
The results: A single to left -- the seventh of his MLB career in just his ninth MLB game, a 6-3 loss to the Phillies.

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What's Buzz-worthy: Darren Baker still might be best known for his appearance during Game 5 of the 2002 World Series where as a three-year-old batboy for the San Francisco Giants and his dad, Dusty Baker, the manager, he became a national headline. He ran out to get the bat, not realizing the batted ball was in play and there would be action at the plate, and was saved from potential chaos by first baseman J.T. Snow who scooped him up by his little Giants jacket after crossing home. ... Fast-forward through all these years, and his dad is now a manager with a World Series ring and a near-lock for a Hall of Fame spot at Cooperstown -- and Darren Baker was in a number of those dugouts as a kid in uniform. On Sept. 1 last season, however, Baker stepped onto the field for a big-league game as a player for the first time. As a member of the Washington Nationals last year, he had 14 plate appearances spread over nine games and hit .500 (7-for-14) with a pair of doubles. This helmet was worn for the final weekend of the year -- this the final game of the season. Thanks to the few at-bats and the Film Room footage, it was easy to narrow down this helmet -- stickered by MLB Authentication 10 days later as part of some end-of-season sessions -- to that game. (Making it even easier is that Baker didn't wear this style in any of his other games.) Since the helmets were not authenticated immediately after use, they get entered as team issued but with the name attached as seen below. I cross-checked the dates to the publicly available Getty Images database, too, and there he is wearing it in three frames from that lone at-bat that resulted in the seventh hit of his career. Since he hasn't been called back up to the Nationals this season, this also stands as the final helmet for the final hit of his career (for now). It wasn't my cheapest addition in my game-used collection, but it's a unique one that will also forever live in cardboard history on card No. 70 in the 2025 Topps Heritage set -- a card that showcases those family ties once again. The helmet cost less than a pair of those hobby boxes, so, like I said ... I had to have it.

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

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