Tommy Pham was diagnosed with a progressive degenerative eye disease in 2008, six years before he made his major league debut. Keratoconus causes the cornea to thin and weaken, leading to vision distortion, not ideal for someone hitting baseballs for a living.
It’s a testament to Pham that he overcame this distinct disadvantage through surgery and cutting edge procedures at the Boxer Wachler Vision Institute in Beverly Hills to carve out a 12-year big league career.
But the 37-year-old doesn’t always see eye to eye with fans, at least not those who frequently heckle him, and Pham’s reaction is too often rude, crude and lewd.