메이저놀이터By Sanghee Lee] Outfielder Tommy Pham (35-Arizona), who is known for his rough personality in the Major League Baseball, is in the news again, this time for a clash with a fan. The outfielder is also known to Korean fans for his “burst” of anger after bumping into teammate Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego) two years ago.
Pam recently addressed a fan on social media, saying, “This guy blocks me and acts like his friend is a model citizen, but if his claim that he didn’t call me ‘trash’ passes a lie detector test, I’ll give him $100,000 (about 130 million won). If he fails, Major League Baseball will ban him from the ballpark for life,” he wrote.
Tommy Pham’s post, “I’ll pay you to pass a polygraph test. /photo=Tommy Pham social media capture
The incident occurred during Arizona’s game against San Diego last weekend. While warming up by taking a swing at the plate, Pham got into an argument with a group of San Diego fans sitting nearby. He claims that some spectators first called him “trash”.
The altercation seemed to end harmlessly, until a friend of the group that Pam was arguing with posted on social media, “My friend would never say something like that in public,” to which Pam responded, “Then you need to take a lie detector test.”
“Recently, Pam’s 13-year-old niece reportedly received hateful messages on her social media accounts,” USA Today reported. Major League Baseball is investigating whether the incident is related.
Tommy Pham in his San Diego days. /AFPBBNews=News1
This isn’t the first time Pham has been in trouble for something outside of baseball.
While with Cincinnati in 2022, he slapped opposing outfielder Jacoby Pederson, 31, in the cheek during a workout ahead of an away game against San Francisco. He reportedly got into an argument with Pederson over an online game and punched him. The Major League Baseball office suspended Pham for three games for the incident.
In June 2021, while playing for San Diego, he collided violently with shortstop Ha Sung Kim while fielding a fly ball in left field against the Chicago Cubs. After returning to the dugout, Pam openly expressed her anger over the collision, sparking controversy.
San Diego’s Ha-Sung Kim, right, and Tommy Pham go down after colliding while fielding during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, June 3, 2021. /AFPBBNews=News1
That’s not all. In the 2020 offseason, Pham was also stabbed in the parking lot of a nightclub near San Diego. He was leaving the nightclub and walking to his car when he got into an altercation with a group of people nearby and was stabbed in the back by one of them. Luckily, he was not seriously injured, but the stigma of being in the news for things outside of baseball has not escaped him.
The Las Vegas, Nevada, native made his major league debut in 2014 with St. Louis before being traded to Tampa Bay in 2018 and San Diego in 2020. Since last year, he has been with Cincinnati, Boston, the New York Mets, and Arizona. In 980 major league games, he batted .260 with 853 hits, 127 home runs, 416 RBIs, 114 doubles, and a .788 OPS.