Collecting Game-used: When 'team-issued' actually means 'game-used' all season long ... in ironclad undisputed fashion

Game-used collectors have been seriously spoiled since the arrival of the MLB Authentication program back in 2001 (I'm one of them), but there are still items that are fully authenticated that require more research for their full story to be known.

This is one of those pieces.

Sometimes, items can't be photo-matched to photos or videos because there are no obvious features or personalized touches that can make them stand out from others. However, for my final item of the year in this Collecting Game-used series, I present to you an item that I recently found that needed a little more research despite it having the coveted MLBA sticker -- but it has those obvious features. In fact, it's a piece that has so many unique features that I was able to track those touches and decipher its lifetime of use. (Well, at least as much as one can without official word from a player to know their uniform habits or info from an equipment manager, who would have been responsible for inventory and replacement of pieces when requested.)

In the case of this Cleveland Indians batting helmet, it was authenticated merely as a "team-issued" piece by MLBA in April 2014. However, the obvious use it shows is from continued play and a distinct lack of maintenance and cleaning (as likely requested by the player). It turns out to be from the entire previous season -- and that was a successful one for the team as it made it to the postseason for just the third time during the 2000s at that point. This helmet's grass, chips, impressive layers of pine tar and other marks can be documented in photos before it was taken out of storage and into collector hands.

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

The exact helmet above was worn by former Cleveland Indians 1B Nick Swisher during the entire 2013 season. 

THE BASICS ...
Game-used batting helmet: Used during 2013 season by Indians 1B Nick Swisher (MLBA stickered as "team-issued" in 2014)
Watch it in action: Right here for one game, for example --a Sept. 15 homer off of Chris Sale

WHAT'S BUZZ-WORTHY: I recently paid two or three times more for this helmet compared to comparable items for this retired All-Star because some quick basic research via Getty Images matched it to several late-season games in 2013. But its story is way, way more interesting than that. After further research, I was able to match it as far back as April 2013, though going back in time makes it harder to decipher features. (The pine-tar caking began in the second half of the year and that covered up a lot of early season markings.)

Why chase this one? Three things grabbed my attention here -- the big chip in the bill, the initials of his daughter written underneath that (more on that later) and then the pine tar chunkage you can see all over the front of the helmet -- with grass still stuck in it. I was able to initially match this to a couple of games where he homered but then as I worked my way back I was able to match the chips in the bill to at least six longballs he hit batting right-handed. And it's very likely it was used for all 10 he hit that year -- April game photos don't offer a lot to match but they are there. There are a ton of images in the gallery below and these are merely the photos I considered to be ironclad or at worst "very likely" to be the helmet based on minor details seen better in-person and the spots where the main chipping issues appear along with other stains and scratches. (There were plenty of other photos to be found via Getty, a leading publicly accessible resource for game-used memorabilia fans, too.) There are images to be seen that are absolute matches, too, allowing you to see how the helmet evolved over time -- for example, the big chunk missing from the bill happened sometime in July. The initials of his daughter, Emma, could have happened any time after May 21 but can only be seen boldly in a photo from Sept. 29 and then in photos from Aug. 18 and 23 if the images are dramatically brightened (see gallery). Curious about this detail? For much of his career, Swisher marked his bats and wristbands/batting gloves with the initials of his grandmother, BLS, but by this point in his career customizations like this aren't as prevalent -- so I bit, especially after a photo-match.

How about cardboard? Thanks to the photos, the ironclad authenticity here doesn't really need any cardboard verification, but there is some there, too, comparing the photo finds to cards -- but I figured it was worth a mention. (Why? Cards can potentially help you match older pre-2001 items to a degree if Getty image volume is limited. It's a longshot, but it can happen.) This helmet is likely seen on a few different baseball cards but the chipped bill is only 100 percent seen on Swisher's 2013 Panini America's Pastime card (albeit with logo removed due to licensing limitations). That set arrived in early 2014 and the photo is clearly from the Oakland series based on the lighting, gloves, tape/wristbands, sunglasses and eyeblack stickers still showing Chief Wahoo on the card. (Aug. 18 -- see the gallery). Swisher's 2014 Bowman card is quite likely also this helmet as the early chip spots can be seen before and after that date but are not 100-percent obvious on that photo.

On to photos in the gallery Early on, the match-able markings are lean -- the April 18 photo shows some texture and staining that's similar on the inner ear flap texture, while the start of a couple bill chips can also be seen that month. Things remained pretty clean in May but you can see some basic marks on the right side of the helmet that match up. In June there's a slight indication of the front bill chip coming in, but the back of the helmet's cleaner grime and markings can be matched to a degree on June 23. The big chip arrived in July and can be seen growing throughout the summer after that -- and the pine star starts to build then, too. By August you can see the tar goes grimetime in fuller effect with the grass appearing by an Aug. 18 homecoming trip to Oakland -- and that's still there as things hit the coagulated stage by later that month (Aug. 23). I can't claim this helmet to be game-used for his final postseason game of his career -- though it was likely in the dugout -- as all four of Swisher's at-bats in that loss came batting lefty.

Wrapping up Game-used helmets can take a beating -- and he was a switch-hitter with his lefty ABs were nearly twice as prevalent that year -- and this one is a classic piece. And, remember, it only got "team-issued" status from MLBA since it wasn't authenticated and taken out of play after a specific event -- it was stickered until the next spring after sitting in storage all winter. (That said, be sure to search for team-issued pieces out there if you haven't. They can pay off as nice items with some research.) I've been able to match a number of items to a game (or two) at times in years of collecting game-used, but I've never been able to add anything like this one to my stash -- and that's where it will stay for a long time.

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

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