The Tommy Pham vs. Joc Pederson fantasy football beef, which was revealed to the world a few weeks ago when Pham slapped Pederson before a Giants-Reds game, seemed to be reaching its end stage. We all had a chuckle when Mike Trout was revealed to be the commissioner of the league in question, but then Pederson and Pham both said they were ready to move on, and so, it seemed, was everyone else. And yet here we are, once again hearing the faint sizzle of beef on the grill, and for that we have some dopey T-shirts to thank.
Before Monday night's game against the Royals, a few Giants players wore t-shirts that said, "Stashing players on the IR isn't cheating" on the front. You will no doubt recognize this as a reference to the fantasy football beef's inciting incident, which was a disagreement between Pham and Pederson over whether it is cheating to stash injured players on the IR in a fantasy football league (it's not). Har har! Clever shirts, fellas!
Unfortunately, neither Pham nor Pederson found the shirts amusing. Pederson spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser about the shirts, and he seemed legitimately bummed that his teammates decided to wear them:
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.”
San Francisco Chronicle
Before you are tempted to say, "Geez man, lighten up" to Pederson, please remember that he's the one who got slapped over this, and thus has very good reason to try and prevent Pham from getting riled up all over again. On that front, I have some bad news for Joc:
Release the IR rules?? Release the IR rules???? No, he wouldn't dare! Such an escalation of hostilities would surely push this beef past the point of no return. Rob Manfred must intervene immediately and try to establish diplomatic relations before it is too late.
