Tommy Pham was diagnosed with a progressive degenerative eye disease in 2008, six years before he made his major league debut. Keratoconus causes the cornea to thin and weaken, leading to vision distortion, not ideal for someone hitting baseballs for a living.
It's a testament to Pham that he overcame this distinct disadvantage through surgery and cutting-edge procedures at the Boxer Wachler Vision Institute in Beverly Hills to carve out a 12-year big league career.
But the 37-year-old doesn't always see eye to eye with fans, at least not those who frequently heckle him, and Pham's reaction is too often rude, crude and lewd. The most recent incident happened Wednesday at Angel Stadium and it resulted in a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine from Major League Baseball on Friday.
Pham is appealing the suspension and was in the lineup Friday as Pittsburgh opened a three-game series against the Dodgers.
During a game against the Angels, Pham fielded a double near the left-field wall and a fan in the first row wearing a glove reached over the wall and touched the Pirates left fielder on the back. Pham couldn't ignore the slight.
Read more:Padres say Tommy Pham in 'good condition' after stabbing, surgery
He turned and glared at the fan even before throwing the ball to a cutoff man and after resuming his position responded to heckling by turning toward the stands and making a crude hand-jerking gesture near his crotch. The television broadcaster was caught off-guard and responded in real time, "Well there, Tommy Pham says hello to the crowd."
Pham then motioned for the heckler to come onto the field, where presumably he would address the spat once and for all, man to man. Angels fans booed Pham the rest of the game, which Pittsburgh won 3-0.
The incident can be added to a list that would be shorter if not for Pham's questionable responses.
October 2020:Pham was stabbed in the back during an altercation outside a San Diego strip club when he told patrons engaged in an argument near his car to move along. He needed 200 stitches to close the gash.
“The cut’s deep. The doctor here basically told me if I wasn’t so muscular, I might be dead or paralyzed,” Pham told reporters a few months later at spring training. “I’m lucky to even be able to play.”
June 2021:Pham addressed the torrent of verbal abuse he experienced after getting off to a poor start with the San Diego Padres. “Fans have been very disrespectful this year,” Pham told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I actually saw a fan who was talking [trash] to me. I saw him outside the stadium. I said, ‘What’s up? You still want to talk that [trash]?’ He went completely blank. That just shows you people feel entitled.”
April 2022: Playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Pham challenged Luke Voit to a fight after the Padres designated hitter collided with Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson on a play at the plate.
“The way his hands hit him in the face, it was dirty,” Pham told reporters. “If Luke wants to settle it, I get down really well. Anything. Muay Thai, whatever.”
Read more:What fantasy commissioner Mike Trout says about Tommy Pham-Joc Pederson flap/slap
May 2022: Pham was suspended for three games and fined for slapping San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson in the face during batting practice over a fantasy football league dispute. Pham said Pederson was "messing with my money" and objected to Pederson putting a player on injured reserve and adding a free agent to his roster, although Pederson said Pham had "literally done the same thing" with his fantasy team.
August 2023: Playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pham got into a verbal confrontation with a fan while in the on-deck circle in San Diego, saying later that the fan referred to him with a profanity. Pham underachieved playing for the Padres in 2020 and '21, and some fans wouldn't let him forget it.
“He stepped out of line and said something that I don’t [take well]," Pham told reporters. "The fans here, I just don’t get it. Not even at the field. Even away from the field. Just completely disrespectful."
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo added that some verbal abuse aimed at Pham is racially charged.
"I hear some terrible things coming from the stands," Lovullo said at the time. "It’s not just the normal 'You’re a bum' stuff. It’s deeper. It’s ugly. ... I just didn’t like what was coming out of these fans’ mouth and it’s real. I’m not making that up. If you get near our dugout, you’d be amazed at what’s being said.”
Pham, who's on his 10th team, clearly is a complex player, the Pirates signing him to a one-year, $4-million deal a week before spring training began. His next hit will be No. 1,000, and he has earned $39.5 million in his career.
Read more:Tommy Pham wanted to be a Dodger. Now he’s a standout and clubhouse hit for Arizona
Another side of him was revealed during the 2023 World Series when he voluntarily gave an at-bat to Diamondbacks teammate and friend Jace Peterson, although Pham was four for four and could have become the first player to go five for five in a World Series game.
“This was to me a true team moment," Lovullo said. "Tommy Pham knew — I’m sure he knew, because he’s extremely smart and pays attention to some things that you wouldn’t expect a Major League Baseball player to pay attention to — I am guaranteeing you he was aware that he had a chance to get five hits."
Then there is Pham overcoming keratoconus, described to reporter Scott Miller by Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler this way: "Imagine your car windshield bulging out and getting all those distortions. Keratoconus can be like being in a fun house, but it's not a lot of fun."
In 2019, Pham spoke to about 200 ophthalmologists at a convention, detailing his journey, which while battling keratoconus included 2,338 minor league at-bats from 2008 to 2014 before he made his big league debut.
"Miracle, I think, is the best term to describe him," said Dr. Edward Bennett, professor of optometry at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and part of the team of eye specialists that worked on Pham. "I've never known anybody else who played Major League Baseball with keratoconus. I don't know how he sees the spin on the curveball, or fastballs."
Perhaps Pham makes up for it by hearing exceptionally well. He definitely hears hecklers, and sometimes his reaction results in a fine and suspension.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
