You have probably heard this story before- Jake Peavy, recently coming off a Cy Young/Triple Crown season in 2007, and convinced that he was soon headed to the northside of Chicago, sang “Go, Cubs, Go” at a Las Vegas bar during the 2008 Baseball Winter Meetings.
But according to the man himself, the signing, like the trade itself, never actually happened.
In a very wide-ranging exclusive interview with RG, Peavy was asked how close he came to joining the Cubs, and in answering that query, he brought up the supposed “Go Cubs Go” (the official victory paean at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field) anecdote unprompted.
“I was very close, I can tell you that, I don’t know how it didn’t happen,” the San Diego Padres Hall of Famer, appearing on behalf of Broken Top Brands, said.
“I didn’t know (then Cubs General Manager) Jim Hendry that much, but we have a lot of mutual friends, and respected each other.
“He wanted to put a formidable pitching staff together, as you saw with Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, the success that some big starters, in their prime, can carry you to- I think he believed in that.
“I remember talking to (former Cubs infielder) Mark DeRosa, and he was devastated, and I was devastated because I wanted to play with him.
“There was never any of me singing ‘Go Cubs Go,’ but we were all in Vegas at the winter meetings and I’m not sure how that (the trade) did not happen, as fate would have it, I was a south-sider and that was probably a little more fitting.”
The alleged “Go Cubs Go” episode appears to have originated with former Cubs ace and current ESPN Analyst Rick Sutcliffe, although there are rumors that Mark Grace was present at the time as well. The Athletic, a decade later in 2014, wrote what seems to be the definitive story on this specific topic.
We asked Peavy where he thinks this rumor got started.
“I think we were just out partying in Vegas, it’s golf season, and when I say party, I was never out at clubs or anything like that as that just wasn’t my style. We were probably sitting around the Black Jack table, and just had one too many cocktails, me and the guys.
“I was over at the winter meetings because Greg Maddux was retiring, and he was having his press conference, I was there to support him. With all the media attention, and people asking me about it (the trade rumors), and I was certainly stoked to join a good Cubs team, and to play in Wrigley.
“And at 2am in Vegas, who knows who’s telling the truth?! (laughing).”
This episode will live forever as one of the most blockbuster trades that never happened. It wasn’t until the next year that he moved to Chicago, although it was across town, with the White Sox instead.
Jake Peavy also wants to set the record straight about all the injury problems that he endured while with the Sox.
Our exclusive was a chance for him to tell his “whole Chicago story.”
When several big name baseball team doctors didn’t have the chutzpah to try and correct his detached latissimus dorsi injury, problem he would eventually come across an M.D. who worked with power lifters, and it was this physician who finally had the stones to fix the problem.
“What I want the fans in Chicago to know is that I came to you hurt, with an ankle injury,” Peavy continued.
“I was not supposed to pitch at all, I ended up pitching three games in 2009, on just one leg.”
By spring training in 2010, Peavy had changed his mechanics, and he eventually recovered from the ankle injury, until he would then suffer another injury.
“By July, I tore my lat completely off-the-bone in a game at U.S. Cellular (Field) against the Angels, then I was told I would never pitch again,” he revealed.
“(Sox Trainer) Herm Schneider was a huge, huge help in that he put us in contact with Dr. Romeo, who was there in Chicago.
“Dr. Romeo showed the confidence that you wanted to see. Everybody else was very hesitant, Dr. Andrews was very hesitant, as to how to go about this. But Dr. Romeo was like ‘man I can do this,’ and he made the decision to have my lat re-attached.”
Eventually, through recovery, rehabilitation, weight training and time, Peavy came back to the level of his old self, and thus earned a Pitcher of the Month award, and an All-Star Game berth, alongside teammates Chris Sale, Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn.
The Mobile, Alabama native also went on to say just how much fun he had in Chicago, and how strongly believed in what the White Sox were building, and the direction that they were going in, towards the end of his time there.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.