Stop Already! You Are Embarrassing Yourself, Kenny Williams!

There's something to be said for aggressiveness in baseball.

A lot, actually.

Pitchers throw first pitch strikes (and even more importantly, 1-1 strikes). They buzz the batter with a 95 mph fastball up and in then drop the off-speed on the outside corner. Batters worth their salt don't settle to slap singles the other way every at bat. They slug their way to multiple base hits. Managers defend their players by ordering retaliatory pitches and get in umps' faces. General Managers pull the trigger on the big trade or free agent signing. This is no revelation, but, as with all things in life, extreme behavior leaves everyone scratching their head wondering what the hell is going between that person's ears.

Here is where the Chi Sox really make a mark on baseball, in particular their "you can't say I'm not trying" GM Kenny Williams. His inferiority complex created a very embarrassing situation this past couple days for the entire organization. I am, of course, referring to the Jake Peavy Fiasco. What kind of GM orchestrates a blockbuster 4-for-1 deal for a recent Cy Young winner without first making a ten minute call to that player for the not insignificant purpose of inquiring whether he would waive his no-trade clause?

If that isn't enough to satiate your desire to observe incompetence in action, Williams proudly announced that the deal will remain on the table awaiting Peavy to reconsider. It makes him and the entire organization look like amateurs.

No doubt the Sox are desperate for starting pitching, as is everybody in baseball. And from this desperation was bred the scenario just encountered. Every other GM would rather have Peavy then not, but only Willaims put on his Napoleon hat and tried to conquer baseball without first looking in the mirror and asking, "Do I have a clue what I'm doing?" If he did, he would have remembered that in the seemingly never-ending off-season rumors circulating throughout Williams' own Chicagotown that Peavy had no desire to go to the White Sox. But Williams took the plunge with about as much chance of success as an invasion of Moscow. And the result: the self-conscious Sox are exposed as over-aggressive know-nothings.

Where does such reckless aggression come from? It is the inferiority complex the Sox acquired from poor geography. Chicago is a dynamic city and arguably the most sports-crazed city in the country. But it has been dominated by Cubs fans for many, many years. The Sox get high-profile shout outs from the likes of Mayor Richard M. Daley and President Barack Obama but continue to fail to win the city over. They win the World Series, something the Cubs have famously failed to do, but even that doesn't convince Northsiders to switch alliances. Ken Williams has consistently been the most willing trade partner of any GM, bringing in big names on seemingly a yearly basis, but the fans just don't follow. The Sox get a new park to call home, but fans still yearn for the old Comiskey Park.

With Peavy, Williams took yet another stab at upstaging his Northside counter-part. Cubs' GM Jim Hendry was unable or unwilling to prove the rumors right and bring Peavy to the Cubs. In Williams' eyes, landing Peavy would have been a major coup for the Sox. But as with any failed coup, the failure leaves him in a much more precarious position then when he started. It seems no matter what the White Sox do, they will always play second fiddle to the team from the North Side.

One day the Sox will accept their role and stop over-compensating. They will continue to do whatever it takes to field a competitive team. But only when they stop trying so hard will they ever have a chance to avoid such embarrassing events as the Peavy Fiasco. Then maybe, just maybe, the White Sox could achieve their dream of feeling at home in their own city.