NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS DODGERS

October 15, 2022

Jake Peavy

Petco Park

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. How does it feel to be back and watch what's happening in this city?

JAKE PEAVY: It feels amazing. I just had a nice time in Peter and Tom's office with Erik and just thanking them for this opportunity that I didn't know I needed it kind of deal. He called me, and I went to a couple of the Padre games in New York, and then this was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.

And obviously watching Joe do his thing on Sunday kind of got me ignited and excited about what was happening in San Diego moving on.

When I touched down and saw the people at the airport in Padre gear and the flight, people were excited and high-fiving me on the way.

I think it's about time that we start talking about San Diego as a sport town. We've lost the Chargers. This is the only game in town. The Padre fans are absolutely showing out, from Del Mar on down. I've been everywhere since I've been here the last few days. It feels good. It feels electric.

Q. Memories come flooding back from your days here? What did you think when you walked into the park?

JAKE PEAVY: Well, you know, the thing I was expressing to Peter is I kind of left here and I started these other journeys, and -- getting a chance to win in Boston and San Francisco really puts those places real relevant at the top of your heart. The longer you were away from here, it just wasn't easy to fall back into it with all that we had going and being on the East Coast.

But yes, when I landed the other night and just thinking about the last time we did play in here in '06, and just thinking about how far the Padre organization has come and since that time, we had a great owner in John Moores, but what Peter has done and the commitment to this city with the payroll and watching the fans respond, going out and making the biggest moves at the deadline takes a committed group.

They're all in, and that's exciting. I don't know that I ever quite felt this way as a player here, that we had the support of -- that we always had the support of the ownership. I don't know if we quite had the capability that they have now, but San Diego is a major player, major market, major fan base.

Q. I think the Padres social media team posted a picture of you with Joe Musgrove. Was that your first conversation with him?

JAKE PEAVY: That was our first conversation in person, yes. Like I said, I hadn't intentionally stayed away, but I just haven't done a lot of things with the Padre organization since I retired just a few years ago.

Sent Joe a message after watching him throw the no-hitter and was really cool for me and caught myself pulling right along -- hear Matt Vasgersian call that game brought memories flooding back of him calling some of my games and just the relationship there.

Yes, it was the first time that I had embraced the big right-hander, and he's a big boy, isn't he.

Q. What do you think it means to maybe this fan base, this community to have a native of this area who grew up a Padres fan to have this sort of prominence on this team right now?

JAKE PEAVY: Well, it's just one of those stories like it's meant to be. It feels like the Braves have one of these guys every other year. This was a homegrown guy from the Georgia area and playing for his team.

I don't know that we've had that -- Brian Giles and those Giles brothers kind of had that here, but this is special. Having Joe being a fan and being in this ballpark as a kid, and for him to have watched some of my good times here maybe and be influenced by that is icing on the cake.

But for him to come back and be the No. 1, be signed long-term now, I think that start Sunday night is going to allow Joe to be even more of a leader than he has been here as far as across the board.

Obviously on the team but in the community.

He's going to really be able to build a culture here within the team and have a voice in what they stand for.

I'm excited about where San Diego is going as an organization; I can tell you that.

Q. If the Padres win tonight, do you want to soak it all in? Are you going to go to the Gaslamp and party with everyone else?

JAKE PEAVY: You know it, Bob. I'm going to be partying with you, my friend, until the wee hours. I'm going to stumble on to a Delta flight.

No, I'm going to be respectful and that, but I'm going to celebrate with the city of San Diego, because again, this fan base means a lot to me. They did nothing but support us and me my entire time here, and like I said, I always wished that we could have added a player or two and done what you've seen the Padres do now.

But as a retired player, you love the places you played, and I love San Diego and so many things about this place. The fans, and you saw and felt it last night, these people are ready. This city is ready.

Like I said, they've responded in such a way that you know that. You see the commitment by Peter to this city. Fifth in payroll or something like that? I might be a little bit off, but that's a major commitment. To watch the season ticket holders on through the fan base really respond to that, I think it says a lot about what San Diego is and how hungry they are for a winner.

Man, tonight would be a huge, huge first step, probably the biggest sporting event in the last 20 years here in San Diego.

Q. As a fan of the sport, now retired player watching it, what do you think of the new playoff format this year? It seems like the teams that got those five days of rest are struggling compared to the teams that went straight into the Wild Card.

JAKE PEAVY: Yeah, you've got a point there. I love the new format. I love the extra teams getting in. I think it's been amazing to watch.

I think you're also realizing that energy and momentum and riding a wave of that is relevant in the postseason. It certainly seems to me that all of these teams that have sat for five days are missing for sure some plate timing and not swinging the bats the way we saw those teams particularly swing the bats in the regular season.

I don't know that at any point in time during the season you have that much time off, and it's hard to stay sharp when you've got another really good team playing meaningful games and then bouncing right to you.

I think we're going to start talking in the near future what you said; is that really an advantage to sit there and get ready for the other team. It hasn't quite seemed to be so far.

Q. You mentioned sitting down, having a chance to sit down with Peter and Tom Seidler and Erik Greupner. Was there any discussion about you kind of coming back to the organization in any kind of ambassador role or alumni role, or might there be something you do down the line, or right now everything is just focused on this weekend?

JAKE PEAVY: Yeah, I think everything is focused on this weekend. It would be unfair for me to even think about having any kind of conversation like that.

These guys are trying to get through the next eight hours with everything they've got, and then we'll get through the next eight after we get a little view of sleep.

I love this place, and it's really been good. I'm very appreciative that they thought of me and made it happen because it was on the Padres. I didn't personally just choose to jump up and come out here. They made an effort and wanted me to be here. That has meant a lot to me and my family.

I certainly am going to be out here more, and I love this community, I love the foundation work that we're doing.

I certainly think as time goes that I'll be out and around. To what capacity, I don't know. But it's nice to reconnect with the new owners and really have a conversation and just see where -- you just check the pulse on everything of what's happening, and it's exciting times to hear those guys speak about where they're at and where they're going.

Q. Time has a way of playing tricks, so when you see a guy like Musgrove who idolized you, other than feeling good, how else do you feel?

JAKE PEAVY: Well, I feel old for sure, but again, I think in life, everything is built on the backs of others. Like I'm honored that this dude saw me -- because I did it with the Roger Clemens and the Nolan Ryans of the world. I looked up to these guys and ripped off some of their game to become my own version of myself.

So just to hear Joe mention that is fun for me, and it sends me into like a personal attachment to what's happening and makes me even more of a fan that I would already be.

Like I said, I didn't know any of this that night when I'm just plugging in to watch him see if he can get it done. But my heart, and knowing San Diego had not had a no-hitter thrown, I was really invested with a kid I didn't know.

Now as things have progressed, it'll be fun to grow our relationship. We've got each other's numbers, and it'll be fun to grow old together and see who the next 44 is after Joe gets done. But he's going to write a pretty good story here in San Diego of his own.