ATLANTA — Joc Pederson knows that San Francisco Giants fans can dish out opposing left fielders. He heard it a lot, being called a bum when he was with the Dodgers.
Still, Pederson hopes the crowd in the stands will behave properly when the Reds roll into town on Friday, though Cincinnati outfielder Tommy Pham, the one with last month’s slap flap, is unlikely to be a popular figure with the Reds. Giants fans.
“I think our fans are classy and respectful,” Pederson said. “There’s a level of respect that has to be maintained, and when you watch games in New York or wherever they are, they start throwing things on the field that aren’t right and don’t help any situation. It makes it much worse. So keep it respectful.”
Before the Giants’ first game in Cincinnati last month, Pham walked up to Pederson in the outfield and slapped him, saying later it was a fantasy football disagreement. Pederson did not escalate the incident and was not suspended; Pham was suspended for three days, and has since continued to stir the pot by not apologizing and even recently mentioning how many players he’s heard praising him because they don’t care about Pederson.
“He said he was going to do it,” Pederson said of Pham’s lack of remorse. “He sent a text message.”
Pederson continued to take the right path Thursday, saying, “I keep getting over it,” and he doesn’t anticipate needing to warn the benches before the series because he hasn’t heard any rumors of retaliation from Giants pitchers. “It’s also in the rearview mirror for a lot of them,” Pederson said.
Plus, he noted, the team is trying to move up the NL West standings and can’t afford to put any opposing runners on base anyway. “I really don’t think there’s a reason to approach it in that old-school way, like, ‘Oh, you’re going to hit someone’ or shoot them,” Pederson said. “If you put somebody on base, you’re in a bad spot.”
Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski agreed that the incident is not on the team’s radar. “Everyone here has gotten over it and gotten over it,” he said. “The fans can treat it however they want, but we’ll treat it like any other game and go out there and try to win.”
Does Pederson anticipate talking to Pham about the incident?
“Did not say. “That was my first interaction with him and I don’t anticipate more.”
The Giants removed the jerseys that were sent to Pederson in the homestand that mocked the incident; Pederson was upset that his autograph was reproduced without his permission, and said the union was also upset that his logo was on an unapproved T-shirt design.
Pederson said he was yelled at by Reds fans for getting slapped, so he figures Pham will get similar treatment in San Francisco before reflecting: “He slapped me, so I don’t know why they yelled at me. But our fans, I don’t know: TBD.”
Susan Slusser covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @susanslusser
Reference-www.sfchronicle.com