Select Team Baseball is the Bohm

 When I was growing up, select baseball wasn't a thing yet.  You played for your little league teams, and when you got to high school you played for the high school team.  However, since then select teams have sprouted up and are now the way to go.  

I remember when select leagues first started that they seemed in some way wrong.  They changed the way things had gone for years, and now the amount of money needed to stay in the game just went up a ton.  But now I can see some of the positives as well.  Improved competition for players in smaller communities which leads to better development of skills.  The showcases gives players visibility with colleges and pro scouts and that leads to a more efficient system of finding the best players.

Regardless of your feelings on them, they are here to stay... and provide new Iowa Connections.  Now, baseballreference.com doesn't track select leagues (nor should they), but there is one institution that tracks their players and gives a ton of information online.  Perfect Game.

From their website: "Perfect Game is the premier provider of amateur baseball events, hosting the highest quality of travel team tournaments and individual showcase events throughout the country."  Of course, they didn't lead the best news, they are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa!  Tons of MLBers have come through the system, including Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper and Carlos Correa.

Iowa has had a few teams over the years, including Iowa Select Black/Red/Navy, PG Iowa Steel/Black/White, Des Moines Navy Seals and my favorite, the Quad Cities Cobras.  

As suspected, the Iowa teams are mostly made up of Iowa kids.  Jeremy Hellickson, Brad Nelson, Mitch Keller, AJ Puk, Scott Schebler, Colin Rea and Cody Ege are some of the notable names.  I was a little hodgepodge when going through rosters, but I think I got a majority of the names.  However, I did get to add one player to the collection.  

Alec Bohm.

Alec was born in Omaha and played for Iowa Select Black for one season.  One could argue (the one being me) that his one season with the Iowa Select team taught him all he needed to make it to the majors. :)

Now, I know what your thinking.  Your thinking if you had read this two years ago that I found a big time player for the collection. Now, maybe you're down on him with his woes this season.  I saw it and found redemption.

See, last year I bought a blaster box of Topps Fire, and pulled a Bohm autograph. Not only that, but it was numbered to 25.  I should have sold it then, but I didn't, and it looked like a distressed asset.  Now, it looks like a centerpiece of a fresh Bohm collection.

Now to the insane part.  Alec Bohm was a rookie in the 2020 season.  He currently has 3500+ cards on TCDB.  Bob Feller, Hall of Famer, one of the greatest pitchers of all-time....has 3000.  

Welcome to the collection Alec!