San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham revealed just how serious his offseason stabbing was, saying that it could have endangered his playing career and then some.
Pham told reporters on Sunday that he needed 200 stitches to close a stab wound he suffered outside a San Diego strip club last October. He added that a doctor told him that he could have been killed if he wasn’t as muscular as he is.
“The doctor here basically told me that if I wasn’t so muscular, I might be dead or paralyzed,” Pham said, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “So I’m lucky to even be able to play. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to play again.”
Pham added that he feared for his playing career in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
“When I got stabbed, and I was being rushed to the hospital, I was on the phone with [GM] A.J. [Preller] and the training staff,” Pham said. “I thought I wasn’t going to be able to play.
“When I got the CT scan, the doctor said, I got great news for you: ‘You can play. It’s going to be a little bit of a recovery.'”
The incident is still under investigation, and Pham is suing the strip club where it happened. He had recovered enough to feature in the Padres’ lineup for their spring training opener, which bodes well for his availability when the season starts.
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