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The slap heard around the MLB world, can now be seen around the world.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson was allegedly slapped by Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham on Friday evening over a fantasy football league disagreement.
Now, a video has been released on social media, showing Pham allegedly approaching Pederson in the outfield before the Giants-Reds game and slapping him hard across the face.
"He kinda came up and said, ‘You remember from last year?’ And I was like, ‘fantasy football?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah,’" Pederson told reporters in the locker room after the Reds’ 5-1 victory.
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Pham was suspended three games for the incident. Pederson explained the disagreement happened well over a year ago over the fantasy league the two were in.
Tommy Pham #28 of the Cincinnati Reds runs out an RBI single during the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on May 17, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
"We were in a fantasy league together. I put somebody — a player — on the injured reserve when they were listed as out and added another player. And then there was a text message in the group saying that I was cheating because I was stashing players on the bench," Pederson said.
Pederson explained that he felt he was within his right in setting up his team for that week and sent a screenshot of the rules to his group chat. He also pointed out that Pham had a similar situation on his team.
Joc Pederson #23 of the San Francisco Giants flies out in the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 27, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Pederson also showed reporters screenshots of text messages he sent in the group chat that apparently ignited the strange saga.
Pederson was also seen holding his phone to show a GIF that he made of three weightlifters in the group chat that included the superimposed logos of the Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres.
Pham was with San Diego at the time and the Padres' weightlifter was seen collapsing in the video. Pederson said he was making fun of the team because they weren't playing well.
"Joc I don’t know you well enough to make any jokes like this," Pham allegedly wrote in the group chat.
"It was meant to be all fun and games. No hard feelings," Pederson responded. "Sorry if you took it that way."
San Francisco Giants' Joc Pederson reacts after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Monday, April 25, 2022, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Pham apparently did take it the wrong way, leading to Friday's slap. Pederson said he didn't react after the slap hit his left cheek.
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"There was a decent amount of people around," he added. "I didn't get emotional. I don’t think violence is the answer, I guess you could say … It was an unfortunate situation over a fantasy football rule. It wasn’t a rule."
Fox News' Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report
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