Tommy Pham confronts Rob Manfred about the baseballs

Manfred was doing an interview outside the White Sox dugout in Cleveland before Game 2 when Pham decided to air his grievance in person.

Foul Territory

@FoulTerritoryTV

Tommy Pham jokingly "confronted" Rob Manfred about why a ball he hit on Saturday wasn't a homer, per @JeffAgrest. Pham: "Rob, what's going on with the balls?" Manfred: "What balls?" Pham: "I can't be hitting no-doubters, man, and not helping them in getting out. How am I supposed to get a job next year if that ball don't go out?"

It was a joke. Mostly. Pham had a smile on it, but the play he was complaining about was real. In the 6th inning of Game 1, with runners on, he got all of one to left. The ball went 366 feet with an expected batting average of.860, the wind knocked it down, and Angel Martinez caught it at the wall. Then Martinez doubled off Miguel Vargas. So the swing that looked like a 3-run homer ended the inning as a double play instead.

Pham wasn't done after the 'what balls' bit. He went to the movies, asking Manfred if he'd seen 'Major League', and the scene where Willie Mays Hayes pimps a ball that doesn't go out. Then he asked for something simple: 'I need a good ball.' Manfred gave him nothing. 'You're on your own with the hitting-out thing,' the commissioner told him, before adding that it was good to see him.

Talkin' Baseball

@TalkinBaseball_

Tommy Pham approached Rob Manfred in person regarding the baseballs MLB is using after his warning-track flyout in Game 1 (via @JeffAgrest)

Jimmy O'Brien@Jomboy_

Tommy Pham had every reason to believe this would be a home run, a breakdown t.co/KQOMr7mIlM

The funniest line is also the most honest one. 'How am I supposed to get a job next year if that ball don't go out?' Pham is a journeyman who has bounced all over the league, and he knows a postseason homer on a national broadcast is worth real money in the winter. A warning-track out is worth nothing. He's not wrong to be annoyed, and he's not the first hitter to wonder out loud about the October baseball. Pitchers have been getting the benefit of the doubt on balls like that for a few Octobers now, and hitters notice every one.

Pham can at least joke about it, because the White Sox are winning anyway. Chicago held on to beat the Guardians 4-3 in Game 2 and leads the best-of-5 series 2-0, one win from the ALCS. Pham came off the bench as a pinch-hitter in that one, so his next real shot at a no-doubter might come with the Sox trying to close Cleveland out.

If he gets it and it actually goes out, expect him to look straight at whatever suite Manfred is sitting in. If it dies at the wall again, we'll be hearing about the balls all winter.