Chuck Garfien of CSNChicago.com spoke with Jake Peavy, who said something you rarely hear ballplayers say: pressure got to the White Sox last year:
“I think you saw that when things got on the line and we were the team to beat there, being in first place down the stretch and that pressure, you feel the immaturity as a club as a whole. I’m not just saying the young guys. I’m talking about myself, the Adam Dunn’s, the Paul Konerko’s. That’s our job to keep everyone calm and keep us holding on.”
Normally you hear guys say that they simply didn’t make plays, it is what it is, the other guys got hot, etc. Interesting and unusual to hear Peavy be so frank as to say “hey, we couldn’t handle the pressure.”
Peavy goes on to talk about other stuff, including how he was convinced that 2012 was going to be his last season in the bigs. That, of course, was the feeling before the season, which saw Peavy make a welcome and somewhat unexpected return to form.
Good interview. Check it out.