Tommy Pham tells Blue Jays catcher he doesn't have enough experience to disrespect him, a breakdown
What Happened
The game is tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays manager has just been ejected, clearly upset with the umpire's strike zone. With a leadoff double and a perfect sacrifice bunt by Isiah Kiner-Falefa (IKF), the Pirates have a runner on third base with one out, threatening to take the lead. The Blue Jays bring in a new pitcher, but he immediately spikes a pitch that allows the runner to score, giving the Pirates a 3-2 advantage. The Blue Jays are visibly frustrated, walking the next batter, Tommy Pham. As Pham steps into the box, the Blue Jays catcher, Tyler Heinemann, appears to make a comment that rubs Pham the wrong way. Pham takes exception to Heinemann's reaction, telling him, "You guys are being disrespectful." Heinemann tries to diffuse the situation, saying "it was away," but Pham is not amused, telling him, "Nothing's funny. Nothing is a joke." On the very next pitch, Pham emphatically flips his bat after drawing another ball, staring down Heinemann and saying, "I'm not talking to you." The two players continue to exchange words, with Pham criticizing Heinemann's lack of experience, saying, "This motherfucker got no fucking time." Pham believes Heinemann's behavior demonstrates a lack of respect for the game, and he is determined to teach him a lesson. After the game, Heinemann tells reporters that he did not say anything to provoke Pham, and that the incident was "weird" and "unprovoked." However, Pham stands by his actions, saying that Heinemann's reaction to the borderline pitch was disrespectful, not only to the umpire, but to Pham as well. Pham's teammates, Ty France and George Springer, try to intervene and calm the situation, but Pham remains visibly upset, determined to uphold his own code of conduct in the game of baseball. This heated exchange between the veteran Pham and the less-experienced Heinemann underscores the complex unwritten rules and expectations that exist within the sport.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentPirates and Blue Jays are tied two to two in the bottom of the seventh inning and we get drama
that no one saw coming. This run is brought to you by DraftKings. We've got a leadoff double
in the bottom of the seventh for the Pirates. The Blue Jays manager just got ejected,
so you know they're not happy with the strike zone. Now we've got a perfect sack bunt from
IKF. Moves the go-ahead run to third. High five, high five, give me the ball, you're out of here.
They're going to bring in a new pitcher, change the energy, new scouting reports, new cards,
new pitcher comes in, 1-1 pitch is spiked and the runner scores. So the energy was not changed.
The Blue Jays were like, wow, this isn't fun. And then they walked the batter. He discards the bat
in a cool way, over the shoulder toss, like throwing the salt in Dumb and Dumber. He's on
first base. And now we have an at-bat with Tommy Pham. We have a ball low, pitch number
20.
Number two, ball low. And then they try to pick him off at first and they're going to throw it
away. And now the runner gets the second and just nothing good is happening for the Blue Jays.
They're like, give us a break. This is not good. Pitcher not feeling great. It's a 2-0 to Tommy
Pham. Come on, give us a break. That is outside. Heinemann's like, oh man, nothing. We can't get
nothing. Come on, give it to us, please. No. And Tommy Pham,
he is not amused about that reaction from Heinemann. The pitcher says, is that away or down?
And Tommy says, off. Come on now. And Heinemann's smiling and just like, okay, it's off. And Tommy
Pham's like, nothing's funny. Nothing is a joke. You guys are being disrespectful. Even though
I'm just like, yeah, it was away. And he's like, away? Okay, fine. And then we move on.
So if you're like, wait, where's all the drama? Well, you just don't adhere to the same code that
Tommy Pham does.
Because what Heinemann did there was rude. Next pitch, 3-0. Another ball, bat flip in his face,
turn and look at him. And then he's like, what? He's like, I'm not talking to you.
I'm not talking to you. I'm not talking to you. I'm not talking to him. What's he upset with me
for? Here we've got the side view and just a great bat spike. Look at this. Boom. Pinwheel.
Flips it back.
Looks back at him. Yeah. What now? I don't know if he said anything right there. Did he say anything?
Yeah, he does say something right there. I don't know. Just giving him lessons in respect. And he's
like, I'm not talking to you. And he's like, yeah, well, let's talk after the game, huh?
Yeah. How about that? And then he sees a Blue Jay coming up on him, flanking him, and he's ready to
go. And then he realized Ty France, they were on the 2020 Padres together for half the season.
They're like, what up, dude? We were quarantine buddies. Remember me? Then Springer comes up. I
don't know if they've ever been teaming up. I don't know if they've ever been teaming up. I don't know
if they've ever been teaming up. I don't know if they've ever been teaming up. And then Springer's
like, whoa, dude, two vets here. What's going on? What's going on? He's like, the ball's fucking
low and away. He's asking if it's in this fucking zone. Are you kidding me? The ball was low and
away. And he's asking if it's in the fucking zone. What are you doing? What are you guys teaching
him over there? Okay. He's like, I hear you. I hear you. All right. I gotcha. I gotcha. What
though? What are you upset about? I hear you. I hear you. I hear you. I hear you. We don't want
you mad at us. But what are you upset about again? And then Tommy Pham, he's still hot, right?
He's talking to him like, come on, dude, don't be doing that. It's rude. Heinemann's like, what did
I do? And he says, this motherfucker got no fucking time. Got no fucking time. And what he
means by time, he means service time, which is how many games you've accrued on a major league
roster. And Heinemann has two years. He's been around for a while, but he's accrued two years
of service time. How does Tommy Pham know the service time of all of his competitors? He's a
pro. He's scouts. He's got respect for the game. Something clearly he thinks the Blue Jays need to
teach a man. Fucking come on. Let him know. All right. Let him know. It's pretty simple.
Huh? Where's the motherfucking respect though? Come on. Let's do it. We're pros. Don't be
disrespecting. Asking if balls are strikes. After the game, Tyler Heinemann told the reporters he
didn't say a word and that you're probably just as confused as I am about the whole incident.
He said, I don't even know him. No idea. Barely know who he is, which is a lie. Heine. Everyone
knows who Tommy Pham is. He's made a lot of headlines. He says, it was weird, man. It was
weird. It was unprovoked and super weird. That seems, uh, right. And then Tommy Pham responded
bitching about a ball, not being called the strike to the umpire when it's clearly below the zone
and away is disrespectful, not only to the umpire, but the hitter as well. So like I said, when I
flipped the ball, I flipped the umpire. I flipped the umpire. I flipped the umpire. I flipped the
bat. Fuck him. Dude has two years in the show. I know the zone. Whoa. So basically Tommy Pham
has a code that he adheres to and he wants everyone else to adhere to, but it's like his
own unwritten rule or the degree of it is his own unwritten rule. So I know what you're thinking.
Has Tommy Pham ever bitched to an umpire about a strike, even though it,
was the correct call. I went and watched a lot of film. I found all the pitches on the edges
that were called strikes. And I'm not showing you all the film I watched,
but I'm just showing you enough to know. He really doesn't. He adheres to his code.
The ump calls it fine. Now, maybe if it's outside and call the strike, then he bitches
because he knows the zone, but he's kind of, uh, he's being true to himself. He's being true to
himself. He's being true to himself. He's being true to himself. He's being true to himself.
He might shrug his shoulders, but, uh, but he's not going to raise his bat and ask,
you know, where was it? He's just going to be silent. Ump makes the call.
He's going to respect it. And that's, uh, the situation. So
I think I respect it. Maybe. I don't know. What do you guys think? I should say,
if you're still watching, he is really liked by a lot of his ex teammates. And there's a lot
of articles about that. Uh, I think he brings a lot of veteran leadership and accountability to
the clubhouses. Thank you to DraftKings for sponsoring this breakdown. I appreciate you
guys watching. I'll see you next time. Bye.
Share it with someone you think might enjoy. And thank you to Tommy fam for being such a good
character.