A signed baseball from what turned out to be the turning point of Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm’s career is up for sale.
Bohm — coming off of a miserable 2021 season — seemed destined to burn out after a three-error game against the New York Mets on April 11, 2022. Gasoline was poured on the fire when social media caught Bohm saying “I f—— hate this place” to shortstop Didi Gregorius as he received boos following an error.
To the credit of Bohm and the PR staff of the Phillies, the third baseman owned up to his mistake postgame.
“Look, emotions got the best of me. I said it. Do I mean it? No,” Bohm said. “It was a frustrating night for me, obviously I made a few mistakes in the field. These people, these fans, they just want to win. I mean, you heard it, we come back, they’re great. I’m just sorry to them. I don’t mean that, emotions just got the best of me.”
Legendary Phillies beat writer Jim Salisbury then followed up with Bohm by asking “So you actually love this place?”, to which he smiled and delivered the following response.
“Yeah, you know what, I do,” Bohm said.
The next night, Bohm received a standing ovation before his first at-bat from the fans at Citizens Bank Park, appreciative of his candor.
The rest is history. It can be debated whether Bohm has reached the ceiling that many thought he had when he hit .338 in his shortened rookie season of 2020, but he drove in 97 runs for the Phillies in 2023 and even if he’s never going to compete for a Gold Glove, he’s become much more reliable in making routine plays.
Years later, everyone involved can laugh about the rock bottom moment for Bohm, including the player himself. In fact, Goldin Auctions currently has a listing for an authenticated ball from one of the errors that night that Bohm has signed and appropriately written “I love this place.”
According to Kevin Kinkead of Crossing Broad, bidding for the signed ball started at $300. At the time of publication for this story, the top bid currently sits at $600 with over 20 people having placed offers.
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