Former Wichita State baseball player Alec Bohm helps send Phillies to MLB World Series

For the first time since 2009, the Philadelphia Phillies are headed back to the World Series — this time with the help of a former Shocker.

Alec Bohm, who wrapped up an All-American career at Wichita State in 2018, has driven in five runs and made some highlight-reel defensive plays starting at third base during Philadelphia’s improbable run to the World Series.

The Phillies didn’t secure the final National League wild card until the final day of the regular season with their 87-75 record, 14 games back from the division winner. But they have played their best baseball in October, winning 9 of 11 games in the postseason following a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres at home on Sunday night to clinch a 4-1 series victory.

Bohm will be the first former Shocker to play in the MLB World Series since 2012 when Andy Dirks, a 2008 WSU graduate, played in the Fall Classic with the Detroit Tigers in a losing effort.

He is expected to become the first former Wichita State player to play in a World Series since 2006 when Braden Looper, a 1996 WSU graduate, helped the St. Louis Cardinals clinch the title. Former Shockers Dusty Coleman (2015 Kansas City Royals) and Conor Gillaspie (2012 San Francisco Giants) have received World Series rings, but were not on the active roster for the postseason.

The Phillies will play the Houston Astros, the American League winner, with Game 1 of the World Series scheduled in Houston for Friday. The series returns to Philadelphia on Monday.

It has been an emotional rollercoaster in Philadelphia for Bohm, who famously was caught by television cameras earlier this season muttering “I hate this place” after being mock cheered by his home fans following three throwing errors in an early April game.

Bohm, however, won fans back with his honest response following the game.

“Look, emotions got the best of me. I said it. Do I mean it? No,” Bohm told the Philadelphia media. “It’s a frustrating night for me, obviously. I made a few mistakes in the field. Look, these people, these fans, they just want to win. I’m sorry for them. I don’t mean that. Emotions just got the best of me.”

The weight of lofty expectations being such a high draft-pick may have affected his performance last season, when poor fielding and hitting saw Bohm ultimately lose his starting spot and be sent back to the minors briefly last season. But he regained his confidence and hit his stride in his third professional season.

Bohm finished with a .280 batting average in the regular season with 13 home runs, 79 runs scored and 72 RBI. He also posted a career-best .962 fielding percentage at third base this season for the Phillies.

It all came full circle in the postgame, locker room celebration on Sunday when Bohm immediately went viral on social media after chugging a beer, turning to the camera and saying, “I love this place.”

Bohm, an Omaha, Neb. native, was a prized recruit for former WSU coach Todd Butler who earned third team All-American honors following his junior season before being selected No. 3 overall by the Phillies in the 2018 MLB Draft. He set a school record with three grand slams in a season and his 16 home runs were the most by a Shocker since 2004.