Phillip Evans, a rookie for the New York Mets, got his first Major League hit in last night's game against Cincinnati. As might be expected, the ball was taken out of play and set aside for Evans.
Why should you care, especially if you're not a Mets fan?
Because the Mets' television broadcast (WPIX) got shots of the official MLB authenticator, authenticating the ball. As a collector, I got a kick out of that, and I thought you might too.
Here's a screen capture I took showing the authenticator taking notes. The hologram has already been affixed to the ball.
The Mets broadcasters seemed bemused at the existence of an official authenticator...
Gary Cohen: The authenticator is authenticating. Phillip Evans' first major league hit, first major league double. "I'm the Authenticator." Authentication, Incorporated . . . [after showing a close-up of the "Authentication, Inc." logo on the authenticator's jacket] there you go.
Keith Hernandez; A lot of people feeding at the trough.
Gary Cohen: They want to make sure the baseball is properly authenticated. You don't want to have amateur authentications.
(The above transcript is based on the closed captioning and my recollection of what I heard on the live broadcast, because the sound on my computer is not working at the present time. If you have access to MLB.TV and are so inclined, go to the Reds at Mets game of 9/9/17, click on the WPIX feed, go to the bottom of the 5th inning, and scroll to 1:50:35.)