“Every commissioner I know always gets booed” - When Mike Trout addressed his role as fantasy football chief amid Tommy Pham-Joc Pederson saga
During the 2022 season, Mike Trout, Tommy Pham, and Joc Pederson made headlines, but it was nothing related to baseball. During a Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants game, Pham came up to Pederson and slapped him.
Pham, Pederson, and Trout were all in a fantasy football league where Pham became upset with Pederson. He believed Pederson was abusing the add/drop function, making it difficult for Pham to pick up players.
Trout was in charge of the league, and he wanted to stay as far from the confrontation as possible. When asked if he was looking to step down, he was honest as he could be, via Bleacher Report's Doric Sam.
"I haven't made that decision yet, but every commissioner I know always gets booed," said Mike Trout.
While being commissioner has its perks, you are the first one to get blamed if anything goes wrong. That is the same in professional sports as much as it is in fantasy sports.
Tommy Pham was unhappy with how Mike Trout handled the league
Fantasy football has gotten quite popular over the years. It is a fun way to get involved in the sport, and in some leagues, winning the championship could be quite lucrative.
In the league that Mike Trout ran, there was money on the line. There is no telling just how much money was on the line, but being professional baseball players, it may have been more than the average payout.
Pham became upset with how Trout was running his league. He felt that Trout allowed players to take advantage of things that Pham thought were bush league.
"Trout's the worst commissioner in fantasy sports because he allowed a lot of sh** to go on, and he could've solved it all" said Pham.
Pham finished out that year in Trout's league, but if you think he was done with fantasy football, you are wrong. Last year, he revealed on X that he won the championship in his new league.
Tommy Pham's ties to fantasy football will likely stay with him through the end of his career. This has to be one of the only times professional athletes got into a scrum over fantasy sports.
This is not the only instance where Pham's emotions have gotten the better of him. He has been involved in numerous on-field altercations in the past, with the latest coming from an altercation with the Milwaukee Brewers.