Why Reds' Dane Myers 'surprised' by Tommy Pham's social media attack
· Yahoo Sports
PHOENIX – Dane Myers has met Tommy Pham a few times in recent years. He admired his game and even identified a little bit with Pham personally because of their backgrounds.
That’s why Pham’s social media attacks on the Cincinnati Reds center fielder over the weekend was “surprising” to Myers.
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“I’ve heard he’s a guy who’s kind of on the lookout for guys that are kind of WAR mongers and go about playing the game more so for their numbers than for their team to win,” Myers said.
“It is what it is. If he thinks I’m doing that, that’s his opinion. He’s entitled to that. But I think a lot of different guys will say differently.”
Specifically, Pham, a one-time Red and 13-year MLB veteran, took to social media to criticize Myers for the error that cost the Reds the third out in the ninth inning and the game in the final game of the recent homestand – suggesting Myers tried to pad his defensive metrics by taking away a play that belonged to left fielder TJ Friedl, costing his team the game when the ball went off his glove.
If anything, Myers called for the ball the entire way, had authority on the call as the center fielder and had it in his sights for a routine catch until Friedl – who apparently couldn’t hear him – crowded the play.
“Especially as a player (he should know), there’s a lot more that goes into it sometimes than what it appears,” Myers said. “He can say what he wants.
“I only really worry about what’s in this clubhouse,” Myers added. “I’m not too worried about that.”
That didn’t stop him from defending himself on X in an exchange that went viral on baseball social media:
“I play to win, quit playing with my name and character. You sound dumb. You’re a wack “OG” to me,” Myers tweeted at one point.
Mostly what caught Myers off guard and led to the exchange was they way he viewed Pham coming up, a Black role model in the game who, like Myers, was raised in a single-parent household.
“We played each other a little bit and I kind of always looked up to the guy and enjoyed his game. We’ve kind of been through the same struggles,” Myers said. “I don’t know too much about him, but I know a little bit.
“I just know he’s a guy that kind of got up out of the mud. And I kind of had to do the same thing.”
Maybe that’s what struck a nerve.
“I know when I’m older – and hopefully I play as long as he did,” Myers said. “I know if I see a younger Black guy, especially, playing the game hard, I don’t think I’d necessarily call him out in public.
“But he’s entitled to say what he wants.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Reds' Dane Myers 'surprised' by Tommy Pham's social media attack