Collecting Game-used: Three fastballs in life before pinstripes

It's a ball that had a short life in The Show, but the one bit of contact was worth it.

This month's entry in the Collecting Game-used series is another that came to me via a blind grab bag where all I knew was the date of the game -- that's pretty much my bargain-bin way of hunting these days -- and yet this was another win. The star player this time? Current New York Yankees ace Max Fried -- though this one from before he put on those pinstripes and is from a game from last season.

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

THE BASICS ...
Game-used ball (MLB Authenticated): Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies -- Aug. 31, 2024
Watch it in action: Three pitches as seen below via the MLB Film Room.

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The matchup: Braves SP Max Fried vs. Phillies OF Nick Castellanos to lead off the second inning of a 3-0 pitcher's duel won by Philly's Zack Wheeler.
The results: A big whiff, a watched ball and a foul ball backward into the dirt are the life of this big-league ball.

What's Buzz-worthy: That big first swing is worth the price of admission here -- the pitcher won -- but the contact play doesn't really make this one all that impressive. Yet, at the same time, this ball is pretty nice as it's got all kinds of scuffing  and some Citizens Bank Park dirt, too, along with some rub on logos and plenty of other discoloring not often seen like this in my experience. (And I own a few too many game-used baseballs.) The pair of All-Stars attached to this ball also make it pretty solid in terms of what it is -- and the catcher, Travis d'Arnaud, is an All-Star, too. Fried went seven innings in this start and struck out four but took the eighth loss of his year, while homers her served up to Edmundo Sosa and Trea Turner pretty much led the way for Philly later in the game. At grab-bag pricing -- roughly the price a blaster box of Chrome or maybe even less -- this wasn't a bad find and addition to the collection.

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

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