Tommy Pham fight comments: White Sox OF 'prepared to f— somebody up' after home plate collision vs. Brewers

Bryan Murphy

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Tommy Pham fight comments: White Sox OF 'prepared to f— somebody up' after home plate collision vs. Brewers image

The term "enforcer" really doesn't apply to the game of baseball. While sports like hockey and basketball have resident tough guys who aren't afraid to muck it up, the chances for altercations simply aren't there in baseball. 

With that said, if there was a player who was as close to an enforcer on the diamond as possible, it would be Tommy Pham — although "hot head" may be a better term for the outfielder. 

Pham has a history of starting incidents, both on and off the field. The current member of the White Sox was back at it again on Sunday, as he had some choice words to say after a collision at home plate vs. Milwaukee. 

Things didn't get physical — which isn't surprising in the MLB — but that didn't stop Pham from issuing some fighting words during and after the game

Here is more to know about Pham's latest incident and his post-game comments. 

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Tommy Pham home plate collision vs. Brewers

Chicago found itself down by a run in the eighth inning of the Brewers-White Sox game on Sunday afternoon. Pham found himself on third base after a walk with designated hitter Corey Julks at the plate. 

The White Sox DH launched a fly ball to shallow left field. Pham attempted to tag up on the play and score what would have been the game-tying run, however, the throw from Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich beat him to the plate, and he was tagged out by Milwaukee catcher William Contreras after taking an especially odd route to home plate.

The backstop for the Brewers celebrated and had a few words to say to Pham, who immediately turned around and started barking back at Contreras, who had turned around and jogged to the dugout. Pham had to be held back by his teammates and the umpire crew from approaching the Brewers' dugout any further. 

White Sox announcer call of Tommy Pham collision

Pham wasn't the only one with words for Contreras. NBC Sports Chicago play-by-play announcer John Schriffen let the Brewers hear it on the broadcast as well, taking a shot at Milwaukee. 

"Nah we ain’t taking that from the Brewers," Schriffen said. "I don’t care how many Ls we got this year. We ain't taking that."

The inning concluded without anything physical on the field, as the umpiring crew was able to contain Pham and stop him from getting into any sort of altercation. The Brewers added two more runs in the top of the ninth inning, securing a 6-3 win over the White Sox. 

Tommy Pham fight comments after home plate collision

The game may have been over, but Pham wasn't done. The White Sox veteran had some choice words after the contest, stating that he didn't think the play was all that great and Contreras shouldn't have been celebrating the way he was. The biggest headline grabber was when Pham said that he's "prepared to f— somebody up."

"I never start anything, but I'll be prepared to finish it," Pham said of the exchange with Contreras. "There’s a reason why I do all kinds of fighting in the offseason because I’m prepared to f— somebody up." 

Pham's offseason activities have been well documented. Outside of baseball, he trains in muay thai, a form of mixed martial arts from Thailand involving stand-up striking with both punches and kicks. 

Thankfully, in this case, he did not display any of his skills, but that doesn't mean he hasn't gotten physical in the past.  

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Tommy Pham fantasy football slap

Pham made headlines two seasons ago when he slapped outfielder Joc Pederson, who was then on the Giants.

The reason? Fantasy football. 

A dispute stemmed from a fantasy football league that both were in. In short, Pham believed that Pederson violated the rules of their league by stashing a player on injured reserve. Pederson claimed he was within his rights to make the move he made and made a note that Pham had made a similar one earlier in the season.

In addition, Pham was not pleased with comments that Pederson allegedly made in their league's group text. Notably, Pederson — then with the Dodgers — poked fun at the Padres, the club Pham was on at the time, amid a losing stretch during their season, and that did not sit well with Pham. 

Because Pham's slap occurred before the first game of the Reds vs. Giants series, few saw it happen live, but video of the incident soon surfaced. 

Pederson was the first of the duo to give an account of what happened. He said he put a player on his injured reserve list one week when the player was listed as out. He then added another player to his roster as a result.

Pederson also said that the exchange happened "over a year ago," so Pham had evidently been holding a grudge long-term. 

"It was a surprise," Pederson said. "He kind of came up and said, like, I don't know, 'Remember last year?' And I was like, 'Fantasy football?' He was like, 'Yeah.'"

Pederson added that he didn't retaliate against Pham because "violence is never the answer." 

Pham denied that the moves Pederson made were within the rules, as he explained to The Athletic a few days after the incident.

"We had rules to the IR, you know?" Pham said. "I know the ESPN app rules, we had our own individual rules."

As such, Pham didn't take kindly to Pederson's roster move. He also explained that several members of the fantasy league reached out to him and supported him after the blowup. One of his former teammates also told The Athletic that, like Pham, he "didn’t appreciate the way Pederson acted in the league."

"They know what’s up," Pham said.

It was revealed that there was some big money on the line in the league. Apparently, there was a $10,000 buy-in — which isn't exactly chump change, even for a professional baseball player.  Pham felt that his chances of winning were put in jeopardy by Pederson's alleged cheating.

"I looked at it like he was f–ing with my money along with the disrespect," Pham said.

Clearly, Pham is operating with a short fuse. The incident should never have gotten violent, no matter how much money was on the line. 

Bryan Murphy

Bryan Murphy Photo

Bryan Murphy joined The Sporting News in 2022 as the NHL/Canada content producer. Previously he worked for NBC Sports on their national news desk reporting on breaking news for the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, in addition to covering the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games. A graduate of Quinnipiac University, he spent time in college as a beat reporter covering the men’s ice hockey team.