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Tommy Pham
Tommy Pham on August 11, 2015.jpg
Pham batting for the Memphis Redbirds, triple-A affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals, in 2015
St. Louis Cardinals – No. 60
Outfielder
Born: (1988-03-08) March 8, 1988 (age 27)
Las Vegas, Nevada
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 9, 2014, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
(through 2015 season)
Batting average .268
Home runs 5
Runs batted in 18
Teams

Thomas "Tommy" James Pham (born March 8, 1988) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Career[edit]

Pham attended Durango High School in Spring Valley, Nevada where he was a pitcher and infielder. As a senior, Pham was named the Class 4A All-State Player of the Year by the Reno Gazette-Journal and a second team All-American after finishing with a .633 batting average.[1][2] As a pitcher, Pham's fastball touched 93 miles per hour but, despite drawing more interest as a pitching prospect, Pham wanted to play the field. He originally committed to play college baseball at Arizona before switching his choice to Cal State Fullerton.[3] Pham was ultimately selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 16th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. He received a $325,000 signing bonus, higher than most players drafted as late as the 16th round.[3]

Pham played most of the 2014 season for the AAA Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). He was called up to the major leagues with the Cardinals for the first time on September 7, 2014.[4] His totals for Memphis included 104 games played, a .324 batting average, .395 on-base percentage (OBP), .491 slugging percentage (SLG), 63 runs scored, 16 doubles, 6 triples, 10 home runs (HR) and 44 runs batted in (RBI).[5]

He opened the next season with Memphis but missed the first two months with a quadriceps injury.[6] On June 9, Pham hit two home runs and a career-high five RBI against the Iowa Cubs.[7] In his first 24 games after returning from the disabled list, he batted .338 with a .402 OBP, .625 SLG, five home runs and 21 RBI. The Cardinals recalled him to the major league club on July 3, 2015.[6] Pham was influential in the Cardinals' 2–1 victory over the San Diego Padres the next day. He doubled for his first major league hit, then, later in the game, pilfered his first stolen base and scored the winning run, his first major league run.[8] On July 5, Tommy Pham hit his first MLB home run the day after hitting his first MLB hit. He hit another double that game, and drove in all three of the Cardinals' runs – also Pham's first three RBI in MLB – as the Cardinals again defeated the Padres, 3–1.[9]

On September 16, Pham tripled and had his first multi-home run game against the Milwaukee Brewers in a 5–4 victory. He actually homered in three consecutive plate appearances spanning his last at bat previous to the game, September 13 against the Cincinnati Reds.[10][11] In the next game against the Brewers, Pham's line drive ricocheted off the head of starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson. Although Nelson had to leave the game, he was able to walk off the field in his own ability, and a magnetic resonance image (MRI) revealed a contusion. Pham doubled and tripled in this game, giving him six hits and eight RBI in consecutive games against Milwaukee.[12] He homered in a 4–3 win over the Chicago Cubs on September 20,[13] and drove in two of the runs in a 3–1 win over the Reds on September 22. In a pinch-hit attempt during the bottom of the 8th of game 1 during the 2015 National League Division Series, he got his first homerun in the postseason against Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs.[14]

Awards[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Pham is Vietnamese-American and the first such person to play in Major League Baseball since pitcher Danny Graves last appeared in a game in 2006.[16][17] He and his sister were raised by their working mother, Tawana, in Spring Valley, Nevada.[16]

Pham suffers from keratoconus, a rare eye disorder which causes degenerative vision problems. It was not until Pham began wearing contact lenses in 2009 that he became able to track pitches to the best of his ability.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Class 4A All-State baseball team". Reno Gazette Journal. June 11, 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2015. 
  2. ^ Smith, Hubble (June 27, 2014). "Tommy Phan". Vegas Voice. Retrieved 19 July 2015. 
  3. ^ a b "Down on the Farm: Tommy Pham". Whiteyball. January 30, 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2015. 
  4. ^ Goold, Derrick (September 7, 2014). "Motte, Masterson seeking roles in Cards bullpen". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 
  5. ^ "Tommy Pham minor league statistics & history". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 28, 2015. 
  6. ^ a b Langosch, Jenifer (July 3, 2015). "Cards call up Pham, boost outfield depth". MLB.com (stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com). Retrieved July 3, 2015. 
  7. ^ Memphis Redbirds (June 9, 2015). "Career day for Pham leads Memphis to 11–3 win". MiLB.com. Retrieved June 28, 2015. 
  8. ^ Modelski, Kevin (July 4, 2015). "Game blog: Cards snap losing streak, beat Padres 2–1". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved July 5, 2015. 
  9. ^ Brock, Corey; Langosch, Jenifer (July 5, 2015). "Lynn and Pham lead Cardinals over Padres". MLB.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015. 
  10. ^ "Rookie Pham belts Cards past Brewers". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 17, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015. 
  11. ^ "Pham homers twice in Cardinals' 5-4 victory over Brew Crew". Fox Sports Midwest. Associated Press. September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015. 
  12. ^ Goold, Derrick (September 17, 2015). "Offense backs Lackey as Cards sweep". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 18, 2015. 
  13. ^ Goold, Derrick (September 20, 2015). "Cards' win over Cubs could be costly". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 23, 2015. 
  14. ^ "Lackey quiets Cubs before Cards erupt". MLB.com. MLB.com. October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2015. 
  15. ^ Goold, Derrick (August 12, 2015). "Cards prospect Reyes sweeps 'Tools Triple Crown'". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved August 12, 2015. 
  16. ^ a b Hummel, Rick (July 6, 2015). "Pham making the most of his chance". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved July 19, 2015. 
  17. ^ "Cardinals Promote Tommy Pham to AAA Team". Nguoi Viet. July 10, 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2015. 
  18. ^ Bailey, Mike. "Stalled but never stopped: The journey of Tommy Pham (part 1)". KMOV. Retrieved 19 July 2015. 

External links[edit]

St. Louis Cardinals current roster
Active roster
Coaching staff
source: https://web.archive.org/web/20150929205433/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Pham

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