The Peavy thing just feels weird

There was an obvious line of happiness regression that began early on this beautiful Thursday and ended about midway through it.

Phase 1: 9 out of 10 excitement ... disbelief mixed with happily surprised

I woke up around 7 a.m. at my hotel in Canton, Ohio, and as I was zombie-ing my way around the breakfast bar, I got a text indicating a deal with Peavy to the ChiSox was close.

Phase 2: 10 out of 10 excitement*

As I made my drive toward Cincinnati, a few more texts were coming in. I was totally down with the players included in the deal, and seemed like a pretty sure thing (hey, all we needed was his approval).

* - It's really important to understand the significance of the Phase 2 experience. If you've followed the White Sox at all this year, you've -- and I'm sorry to say this -- hopefully been pretty miserable. Last year's team had its holes, but this year's team isn't consistently good at anything -- hitting, pitching, defense... you name it. I hardly ever use the word "numb" to describe my fan experience with anything involving sports, but that word probably sums it up best.

If Jermaine Dye wasn't on the team, I don't know how I could bring myself to watch the games. My play for 2009 was this: as soon as they were 11 games out of first place, I was going to stop following the team with regularity. Truthfully, it was kind of nice to know it wouldn't consume so much time this summer.

Phase 3: 4 out of 10

This is when I started hearing the "he has a house in California" and "he doesn't want to come to the AL"-type stuff. I pretty much lost hope immediately.

Phase 4: 1 out of 10

When he officially snubbed the Sox. It was just a total bummer.

Phase 5: 2 out of 10

This is when the texts about the Twins' 20-1 drubbing started to pour in.

I really didn't care that much. The Sox took the first two games of the series, and I can't remember the last time the Sox won a series (it certainly hasn't happened in May yet). Yeah, I hate the Twins, and yeah, the loss was embarrassing ... but at least it was something else to think about. I was all Peavy'd out. Part of me was kind of just smiling. The Twins romp was like the cherry on the poop sandwich. With or without that game, the sandwich was still there. The meal -- or... day? -- was ruined, regardless.

* * *

A few spare thoughts to take from this whole experience...

- We like to think of Chicago as a top flight sports town with great fans, and while Chicago fans probably overvalue the city a little bit, I don't think they're too far off. Getting snubbed like this felt a little hurtful, for a lack of a better word. Kind of like being stood up on a date (not that I know from experience ... zing!).

- I know this is an irrational overreaction, but I think I've lost the shred of my remaining respect for the NL. When it comes to an AL pitcher having reservations about going to the NL, I totally understand that. Batting in major league baseball adds an entirely different dynamic to being a big league pitcher... if I was in their shoes, I'd probably want to avoid it at all costs myself. With that said, an NL pitcher preferring to stay in the NL basically says to me that they're afraid to face better hitters. Peavy's agent said:

Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod, like Peavy, has said repeatedly that Peavy's preference is to remain in the National League because he enjoys the entire game, from running bases to hitting to, of course, pitching, where he's won 57 percent of his decisions and posted a 3.27 ERA since 2002.

This isn't AFC vs. NFC or Western vs. Eastern (in NBA, NHL). This is about as clear as an example as you need. The NL is an inferior league to the AL. I don't know what else has to happen to get every baseball fan to come to a consensus on this. The NL has more strategy and is more true to the ideas of baseball (this can't be argued), but when it comes to pound for pound great players and better teams, it's not even a contest. The AL teams are simply equipped for more productive offense output. You can correctly call it unfair, but those are the rules as they currently stand.

- In that same article, Trevor Hoffman said:

The staying-where-he's-comfortable theory wasn't one that was lost on former Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, a teammate of Peavy's up until this season when he signed with Milwaukee.

"He wants to pitch in the National League," Hoffman said. "This is just San Diego's way to force it, by airing it out, make him look bad. To do it the way they did, they're trying to force his hand."

Well, good for San Diego ... but they forced his hand at the expense of the White Sox.

- When it comes to being critical of players, I try to always write stuff here that I'd feel comfortable saying to a players face if -- in the flukiest of fluke circumstances -- he somehow found out. Peavy's move today just felt wussy, over-apprehensive, and kinda sorta bogus. You want out of San Diego? Fine. But beggars can't be choosers (though, I guess in this case they can).

- A small part of me understands it, though. Who wants to leave San Diego for anywhere in the Midwest? Still, if Peavy goes to the Cubs, that changes everything.

- I also couldn't help but think how Cubs fans felt through this whole ordeal. They went from "no, we wanted him!" to more of a cocky reassurance of how much more appealing it is to play on the north side. That, I hate, but today, there's just no retort.

- What first popped into my head after today's events: "Is this the worst day for the White Sox in the post-title era?"

At first I thought yes, but I realized it's probably not close. Some of last year's dome losses to the Twins were just unbearable. In the big picture, very little happened today.

- The optimist train of thought tells me to take out the positive that at least Kenny Williams is doing something to make this team contend right now. It's nice to know he's not standing pat as the ship shinks deeper and deeper.

- In conclusion, I'm pretty much over what happened today, but I can't help but think about how cool the deal could have been. I'm not saying he would have completely swung the team's fortunes, but in a sport like baseball, you just never know what a single move can do in the big scheme of a season (Manny to the Dodgers comes to mind).

Today's (almost) trade, to me, symbolized hope. It symbolized hope in the same way Griffey coming to the Sox in 2008 symbolized hope. It was headlines. It was making a splash. But it was a lot more legitimate than any move the Sox have made in a long time. In 2009, I've probably said "I hate baseball" more than the Sox have played games, but this (almost) move really made the sport seem fun again. It reminded me why I like following the game in the first place. It felt like Derrick Rose. It felt like Jay Cutler. But I guess it just wasn't to be.

Oh well.