Feud between Joc Pederson and Tommy Pham escalates with t-shirts. San Francisco Giants' Joc Pederson against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, June 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Tommy Pham’s grudge against San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson for what Pham, a Reds outfielder, alleges was a fantasy-football rules infraction took on new life again.
Pham took exception to T-shirts some Giants players wore during batting practice Monday. The shirts read: “Stashing players on the IR isn’t cheating,” and they’re now collectors items — because, Pederson told The Chronicle on Tuesday afternoon, the team has disposed of them.
“They ended up taking them all out of the lockers and throwing them out,” Pederson said. “So yeah, they're not gonna work anymore. Guys thought they were funny and wore them out there, but you never know how someone’s going to take something. We’re just working on defusing a situation.”
The Giants wore these shirts yesterday during warmups ⬇️ : @SFGigantes pic.twitter.com/2yT6v9EeN3
The situation: Pham’s continued fantasy-football vendetta, which surfaced when he slapped Pederson before a game at Cincinnati on May 27, earning himself a three-game suspension. Pederson, who did not escalate that incident and walked away, did not receive any punishment.
After several outlets tweeted a photo of Alex Cobb wearing the T-shirt on Monday, Pham responded with tweet that read: “They really played themselves bcuz now all I have to do is release the IR rules in the league and the text how I told Joc I was gonna pimp slap him for cheating.”
Pederson said he is unsure where the T-shirts came from in the first place — they were in his locker on Monday and he left them on a table in the clubhouse for teammates. He had nothing to do with them, and was, in fact, upset to see the shirts bore a facsimile of his signature, which he had not approved.
“That’s kind of messed up,” said Pederson, who did not wear one of the shirts. “I don't think that's OK to just be sending stuff out like I've made it or I did something and have my autograph on it. I didn't like that.”
They really played themselves bcuz now All I have to do is release the IR rules in the league and the text how I told Joc I was gonna pimp slap him for cheating
Cobb thought the shirts were amusing — most players around the league, like the general public, have found the whole situation entertaining. Who gets that upset about fantasy football? But Cobb also liked the fact that Pederson had responded so calmly, which not everyone might have managed.
“I thought the shirts were funny, but the best part was just the humility that Joc handled it with,” Cobb said. “Most people, rightfully so, might have been more frustrated and responded in a Macho Man way, been aggressive. aggressive, and Joc just laughed it all off.”
Cobb had walked back to the dugout with Joc the day of the outfield confrontation in Cincinnati, and, Cobb said, “I just asked him, ‘How you are you so calm right now?’ and Joc said, “Because I'm just confused — I think that was over fantasy football.’ ”
The Reds come to town June 24-26 to kick off the Giants’ next homestand.
Susan Slusser covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser
Susan Slusser has worked at The San Francisco Chronicle since 1996. She is the Giants beat writer. Previously, she covered the A's full-time from 1999 to 2021.
Slusser's book about the A's, 100 Things A's Fans Need to Know and Do Before They Die, came out in 2014 and she and A's radio announcer Ken Korach released a new book, If These Walls Could Talk, Tales from the Oakland A's Dugout, Locker Room and Press Box, in 2019. She is also a correspondent for the MLB Network.