Collecting Game-used: Up close & personal with J.T. Realmuto

This ball was almost a bit of déjà vu ... and I didn't even notice it at first.

My latest ball in this Collecting Game-used series is one that I picked up just like others in this series -- a blind grab bag buy of sorts just picking by date -- with the same teams involved and with All-Star power attached.

While last month's piece was a little more in-depth in terms of how long the ball survived in the majors -- two batters -- this one is more traditional but from the guy who followed them in the Braves lineup. That was something I didn't even realize until I sat down to put this one together. Landing all of the baseballs used in an inning is probably an impossibility unless it's all one ball or if you're at a game and can pick them up in-person, but this was a fun discovery with good names attached.

And yet baseball trivia here all that is moot compared to the play that Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto probably remembered after the game.

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

THE BASICS ...
Game-used ball (MLB Authenticated): Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies, July 27, 2022
Watch it in action: Click here ... via MLB Film Room

The matchup: Phillies RP Brad Hand vs. Braves 3B Austin Riley
The result: One pitch -- the second foul ball of an at-bat -- in a clean eighth inning as part of a 7-2 Phillies win ... but it also was a 92 mph fastball fouled back straight into catcher J.T. Realmuto's face.

What's Buzz-worthy: This ball has all kinds of star power attached -- everybody involved has been an All-Star -- and it's also a one-pitch lifer in the bigs with perhaps the scar to show it. That mark on an otherwise remarkably clean ball? It just might be from the point of impact where it hit Realmuto's mask bars as Riley fouled it right back at him ... in the face. It was a sequence you can see at he link above that got him a pat on the back from the Riley as Realmuto leaned over and made sure he wasn't spitting any chiclets (teeth) like might happen elsewhere in Philly. After all that, he simply shakes his head and readies for the next pitch. I don't even need to look up any more stats after that one to make this ball seem more interesting or notable than it is ... just roll the tape.

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

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