SAN DIEGO – Tommy Pham knows how lucky he was on Sunday, four and a half months after he was stabbed in the lower back during an altercation in the parking lot of a strip club.
It could have been much worse.
“The cut was profound. The doctor here basically told me that if he wasn’t so muscular, he could be dead or paralyzed,” the player on the left said during a video conference with reporters in Peoria, Arizona.
“I’m lucky. I’m lucky to be able to play.”
While being rushed to hospital in an ambulance on Oct. 11, three nights after the Padres were eliminated from the playoffs, Pham was on the phone with general manager AJ Preller and coach Mark Rogow.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to play,” Pham recalls, telling club officials.
“When I had a CT scan, the doctor told me, ‘I have great news for you. You can play “.
Pham said late last year that it took 200 stitches to close the wound. A video posted online showed the bottom of his white shirt soaked in blood.
The San Diego Police Department is still under investigation and no arrests have been made.
Preller said Sunday that “obviously it’s not the kind of news you expect, the kind of phone call.”
Preller said Pham was “a matter of fact when it comes to talking about what happened. The biggest emphasis for us was to make sure we were able to bring our doctors to the case and try to make sure we were smart about giving him all the possible benefits in the care we needed at the time. “
Preller said that the first thing that stood out “is how lucky he was when he talked about a stabbing in any area, but that it was as deep and extensive as it was. If it were an inch in any direction, maybe a different result Once I overcame that obstacle, with his work ethic and the way he attacks things and enters the gym and takes care of him, he would give himself every possible chance to come back.
“He’s in great shape. Obviously, he had a few different injuries last year. I think he’s ready to play.”
Pham said her recovery included bed rest and then flew to San Francisco each week for about six weeks to receive injections of Regenokine to help with inflammation.
“I worked with some doctors to get where they are, because it’s only been 4 and a half months, and the time is usually a little longer,” he said.
The injury affects you when you try to do knee bends and weights in the weight room.
“My standards still don’t exist. You really don’t have to squat too much or raise your death too much to be a good baseball player,” he said.
After being transferred from Tampa Bay Ray to San Diego, the 32-year-old Pham was limited to 31 games during the shortened 2020 season of the pandemic due to a left hand injury that required intervention. surgery in mid-August. He hit .211 with three homers and 12 RBIs. He hit .375 in the playoffs.
He had another hand operation in October.
He says it is around 80%.
“I probably have more to prove because I had a terrible year,” said Pham, who recited a series of analyzes that were inactive. “In addition, this is my year as a free agent. So I feel like I have more to prove.”
Pham said his outlook has not changed since the stabbing.
“I still see everything almost the same. If it’s something, I would probably spend more money and stop saving so much, because if I died I would feel like I have too much money in the bank and I don’t live long enough.”