The Pittsburgh Pirates may have shut out the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 on Wednesday night. Yes, it was brutal! But instead of the team getting all the spotlight, it was rather someone who got everyone talking.

It all started when O’Neil Cruz crushed a home run so deep that even Paul Skenes was left in disbelief. But then, during the bottom half of the same inning, Angels catcher Travis d’Arnaud ripped a double down the left-field line. Then Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham sprinted to the corner to field it, but this is where things took a different turn.

As Pham reached the wall to get the ball, an Angels fan leaned over in the hopes of grabbing a souvenir himself. And he happened to brush him with his glove. That sent Pham over the edge!

Tommy Pham didn’t take time to react and immediately turned to see who touched him before sending the ball to the infield. Then after returning to his position in the outfield, he turned right back at the crowd and made a lewd gesture to the fan with his right hand. The moment was caught live in action, and the broadcaster tried to make the moment light by saying, “Well, there Tommy Pham says hello to the crowd.” But for the crowd, this hello didn’t go well.

Social media lit up almost instantly at the over-the-top reaction. Because let’s not forget, he is the same Tommy Pham who once slapped his teammate over a fantastic football beef. So, fans are not taking it lightly, and demanding another strict action.

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Tommy Pham under fire for obscene action

A user on X commented that Pham should be kicked out. This reaction is because this isn’t the first time that the Pittsburgh Pirates player has done something that has gotten him into the spotlight. Apart from the 2022 incident, just last season, he got into a verbal altercation with a fan during a game between the White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. And he even got plenty of attention by wearing a batting glove on his throwing hand just early this season. So fans are not surprised!

An MLB fan didn’t highlight the fact that maybe Pham likes to fight. Given that there are several instances now, fans are highlighting this fact. But while the action he did was condemnable, the act itself is also not right. Last time, fans got a hold of Mookie Betts and the results were dire- they were banned from attending the games. Because handling the players or interfering with the game, is strictly not allowed. But given even MLB has rules they follow, the action shown by Pham might not be excused.

Some fans were simply engaged and asked MLB to do something to discipline the Pirates player. Until now there has been no update from MLB about the stance they have regarding this. However, when MLB can hand a one-game suspension to Francisco Lindor for just tweeting when he was in the clubhouse, suspending Pham due to obscene action does seem like a possibility. Lindor is still meanwhile awaiting the result of his appeal, which he did file.

Another fan echoing the same statement urged MLB to take strict action. And one thing is for sure—all eyes will be on what happens next. MLB has been in plenty of fire due to its rules and regulations, biases, and more. The most recent controversy that they are under scrutiny about is the fact that they didn’t even check if the minor league stadium that the Rays were going to spend this season playing in is up to speed with MLB standards. And it all came to light when Aaron Judge missed his home run due to a faulty calling. So threading carefully is maybe what they would do.

Thinking about the welfare of the children watching the game, one person said as adults the action Pham did might be funny, but if a 10-year-old is watching it, it suddenly isn’t. And it makes sense because it could be handled differently. Recently Mike Trout was just seen annoyed and frustrated because a ball was ripped out of his glove by a Houston Astros fan. But things didn’t reach the level here. Trout even met up with them later on and mentioned that they were extremely sorry.

So definitely things could have been done in a more classy manner. For now, one thing is for sure: everyone would be waiting for any action by MLB on the Pittsburgh Pirates star. Do you think they will?