Word to the wise, don’t mess with Tommy Pham’s fantasy league. The Cincinnati Reds outfielder slapped San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson after he said he broke the fantasy league “code.”
“I slapped Joc,” Pham said to the media after the Reds’ 5-1 win against the Giants on Saturday. “He did some sh*t I don’t condone, you know, so I had to address it.
“Look, you know there was some sh*t that went on in fantasy, you know, but what he forgot to tell you guys, too, you know, is he said some disrespectful sh*t in a text message, and I called him out on it, so it’s regarding my former teammate.”
Tommy Pham slapped Joc Pederson across the head and was suspended for three games because lingering resentment from a rule regarding IR designation in their fantasy football league spilled over into real life and led to Pham’s attack.
Baseball is not real. It’s a Mad Lib. pic.twitter.com/0a41Yi0DGD
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 28, 2022
What Did The Hand Say To The Face?
As a result, Pham walked over to Pederson and slapped him on the field. A video of the incident went viral.
“I didn’t like that, and I didn’t like the sketchy sh*t going on in the fantasy; too much money on the line, you know, so you’ve got to look at it like there’s a code. You f**king with my money, then you’re going to say some disrespectful shit. There’s a code to this.”
As a result, Pham was suspended for three games for the incident.
“Me getting pressure from MLB. I’m definitely suspended. I agreed to three games. I don’t talk to him this was strictly just about some money or winning some money gambling. Sounds like if I appeal, it might only get worse.”
Tommy Pham says Joc Pederson forgot to tell the media the “disrespectful shit” he said about Pham’s former team
Pham also confirmed the fantasy football feud: “I didn’t like the sketchy shit going on. Too much money on the line. Fucking with my money.” pic.twitter.com/d5TnmYauB9
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 28, 2022
What’s Beef?
Pederson did not expect that Pham still had beef with him but he made it known when they saw each other.
“That happened, that was the only physical part,” Pederson said to the media on Saturday. “We were in a fantasy league together. I put somebody on injured reserved when they were listed as out and added another player, and then there’s a text message in the group saying that I was cheating because I was stashing players on my bench, and then I don’t know.”
Joc Pederson waited for reporters to show up to his locker so he can pull up the receipts on Why Tommy Pham slapped him.
This league man. @Starting9 pic.twitter.com/rwvmPikBsf
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 29, 2022
However for Pederson, there was a bit of hypocrisy in Pham’s accusation.
“I looked up the rules and sent a screenshot of the rules how it says that when a player is out, you’re allowed to put them on the IR, and that’s all I was doing, and then it just so happened that he had a player, Jeff Wilson who was out and he had him on the IR, and I said you literally have the same thing on your bench.
“Then I guess he was in two leagues and on one of them he was in the IR and one he wasn’t so maybe that was the confusion but on the ESPN league we were in he was listed as out so it felt very similar to what I did and that was basically all of it; there’s not much more to it.”
@TphamLV said “I slapped Joc…There’s A Code To This” 😂😂
That’s why they don’t want any thorough dude in pro sports anymore.
— MLBbro.com (@MLBbrodotcom) May 31, 2022
Fantasy Fail
Pederson pointed out that the fantasy league incident occurred over a year ago, but Pham chose violence.
“We never had any more contact; the only time we texted was in the group text, and it was over a year ago. It was a surprise. There was no real argument. He kind of came up and said, like, ‘You remember from last year?’ And I was like, ‘fantasy football?’ and he was like ‘yeah.’”
He Chose Violence
At that point, Pham’s hand said to Pederson’s face: SLAP! However, Pederson didn’t feel the need to escalate the conflict.
“There was a decent amount of people around, and I didn’t get emotional. I don’t think violence is the answer, I guess you could say, so I kind of left the situation, and some of the players were out there, and it wasn’t benches cleared, but it was batting practice, and there’s nothing more to it. Like I said, it was an unfortunate situation over a fantasy football league rule that wasn’t a rule.”
