You know who really hates the St. Louis Cardinals? Yes, basically everyone outside of St. Louis, but so does their starting center-fielder Tommy Pham. At least that's the impression you get after reading this incredible feature story in Sports Illustrated, where Pham lets out all his anger toward the people running the Cardinals.
Pham, 30, was drafted out of high school in 2006 by the Cardinals in the 16th round. He's dealt with injuries, but has always performed in the minors. Pham didn't make it to the majors until 2014, and didn't get actual MLB playing time until 2015. Last year, Pham was incredible, putting up a 5.9 fWAR in 128 games, clobbering 23 home runs and stealing 25 bases, while having a .411 OBP.
It was a breakout year for Pham, but he hasn't forgotten about the disrespect he feels he's received from the Cardinals. Here's just a taste of what Pham had to say in the Sports Illustrated article by Jack Dickey.
Pham had chafed at being stuck in Memphis before. Early in 2014, after being leapfrogged by better-regarded prospects such as Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty and Oscar Taveras, Pham says he called Gary LaRocque, the Cardinals’ farm director, and demanded his release. “I said, ‘You know what, I’m the best mother------ on this team, and you guys don’t even know it,’” he recalls. “I said those exact words. They told me things happen, I’ll get some at bats. I just had to wear it.”It gets even better. Telling this directly to Mike Matheny's face is awesome.
While he made the Opening Day roster in 2016, he strained an oblique in his first at bat. Once Pham healed, the Cardinals sent him down to the Redbirds. In response, Pham says, he “threw numbers” at St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. “Looking back on it, that’s not something you want to do.” He took the relative high road when demoted again in spring training of 2017, telling Matheny, “I’m gonna go get better, but just know this: There’s not one player in the minor leagues with my Triple A résumé and my big league résumé, because they’re all up here starting.”Again, it's important to point out that a part of the reason Pham never got a fair shot at being an every-day starter for the Cardinals was because of injury and a degenerative eye condition, keratoconus. Yet, Pham's never let that hold him down. He's regarded as a hard worker and has come back from injury every time and played even better than before. This is the best part.
Still, Pham hadn’t thought to quit. Then the season started. “We’re two weeks in, and I’m raking,” he says. “I’m hitting like .400. The big league team was 3–9, and all three outfielders were hitting .200. They tried [Matt] Adams out there, and he’s a great hitter, but he just couldn’t play the outfield. So I’m like, They’re getting the reports every day, they know I’m raking. What the f---? When are they gonna call me up? And then we’re three weeks in. The guys are still struggling, Grichuk, Dex [Dexter Fowler], Piscotty. And I’m still balling! So finally I said, They’re not gonna f-----’ call me up, f--- it, and I zoned out in Triple A. Every day I was just like, F--- this. I’ve made it to the big leagues, f--- it.” He stopped showing up for early work, daring his manager to bench him, daring St. Louis to cut him loose. Pham’s agents had learned that other MLB teams as well as Japanese clubs were interested. “I’m thinking, [the Cardinals] are not gonna trade me,” Pham says. “They won’t sell me to Japan. What the f---? They clearly don’t believe in me. Let a mother------ leave! And they wouldn’t even do that.”This is who the Cardinals had ahead of Pham in 2017, and it gives you a pretty good idea of why he was pissed off about not playing.
Pham eventually got his time to prove what he could do and in 2017, he was the best player on the Cardinals. He's 30-years-old in the last year before arbitration, (yes, he won't be a free agent until he's 34, he was drafted at 18, that sucks) and if you think he's still not bitter then you're wrong. Especially at the members of the Cardinals organization who told him the believed in him all along. That's bullshit for Pham.
“They said, ‘We believed you could do it all along.’ That’s the thing that’s so mind-boggling. I said, If that’s the f-----’ case, then why was I f-----’ demoted to Triple A? If that’s the case, why the f--- was I batting in the eight hole this year, behind the guy who got f-----’ called up from high A? That s---, that’s that fake s---, man. I’m from a background where my mom kept it so real. My mom would be like, ‘Man, look, I don’t have no money to get you nothing for Christmas, I don’t have no money to get you nothing for your birthday. I’m sorry. I gotta pay the bills.’ I respected her because, s---, she told us from the get-go. All that fake s---, man, I was never raised like that.”Please, read the entire story. It is incredible. Anyway, this past offseason the Cardinals offered a two-year deal to Pham. He didn't think twice about whether or not to accept the contract. Via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“If you look at what I did last year, I didn’t think there was a great amount of appreciation." “The numbers didn’t add up to me and my agency and the union. Nothing made sense. I didn’t think. It’s business first and foremost. I didn’t like it. The numbers didn’t seem right. I wouldn’t sell myself short like that.”There is definitely resentment from Pham toward the Cardinals and his latest comments sure do give off a certain impression. I have a feeling Pham doesn't buy into "The Cardinal Way."
