Padres' Tommy Pham Says Fans Have Taunted Him Over 2020 Stabbing Incident

San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham was the victim of an attack outside of a downtown San Diego night club in October and had to undergo emergency surgery after he was stabbed in the lower back. 

Now, fans across MLB are using the traumatic experience to taunt him during games. 

The 33-year-old told the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee that fans—both home and on the road—have been jeering him in left field using the attack as fuel. He's losing his patience on the issue. 

"I need to talk to MLB," Pham said. "The vulgarity this year, the gestures, I've never seen it at this level. I want to know if this is just because fans have been gone for a year and now they're back and acting a certain way. That [stuff] shouldn’t be tolerated."

In one case, Pham said he confronted a heckler when he saw him outside of Petco Park following a game.

"Fans have been very disrespectful this year," Pham said. "I actually saw a fan who was talking [trash] to me. I saw him outside the stadium. I said, 'What’s up? You still want to talk that [trash]?' He went completely blank. That just shows you people feel entitled."

In another instance, Pham asked security to remove a fan in Houston over intolerant remarks during a game. 

Regardless of how Pham is playing—and the left fielder has been crushing the ball lately after a slow start to the year—he feels the remarks have crossed a line.

In a statement provided to the Union-Tribune, MLB reiterated its commitment to keeping both players and fans safe at the park:

"Preserving the safety of our on-field personnel and our fans is essential to us," MLB said. "We will continue to devote resources to emphasizing and enforcing the applicable laws and codes of conduct and providing an enjoyable experience at our ballparks."

In the meantime, Pham noted he's doing his best to tune out the comments. However, even when he's not at the park the taunts are never far away.

"Today, social media kind of makes it worse," Pham said. "Some fans think they're better baseball players than me, I guess."