Peavy - "My Hands are Clean" - Baseball History "Meh . . .big deal"

Though this post is not directly Braves related it is tangentially related to both the Braves and the Auburn Tigers. 2007 Cy Young winner Jake Peavy is a product of Mobile, Alabama and was a 1999 signee of the Auburn Tigers. Being a typical kid growing up in Southern Alabama Peavy "grew up as a Braves fan." Peavy was ready to join the Tigers' rotation before being selected in the 15th round of the 1999 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres.

After pitching a complete game shut-out against the Dodgers on Saturday images appeared on the Internet of Peavy with a dark substance on his pitching hand. Peavy commented on the incident in an article from the San Diego Union Tribune which can be found here. We'll summarize his comments from the article as follows . . .

"I can't imagine my hands being that dirty. That being said, you're hand doesn't look clean when you're out there. Obviously I pick up rosin, pick up dirt, I do hit.
"There's no way you could have a foreign substance on your hand that's black. I don't know what you could put on your hand. My whole hand was covered, the picture I saw. Wouldn't that come off on a ball? How could you throw a ball with pine tar on your hand?"

Peavy said the Dodgers "are more than welcome" to look at any balls he throws, adding, "I hope that they're worried about my hand more than they're worried about (my pitches). I honestly hope that's a cause of concern. Anytime Joe wants to have anybody check me, I welcome that."

The best take the situation we have come across so far comes from GasLampBall.com

"See, to me... the spitter is like a lost dark art. It's against the rules to be sure, but if it were really such a terrible thing, they wouldn't have grandfathered in all of the guys who openly threw spitters after the pitch was banned. And even now, it lives on in the hearts of slightly evil pitchers. Jake Peavy harnessing the unholy powers of hell to do the holy work of defeating the Dodgers. He's like Ghostrider or Hellblazer or Spawn or something.
Carry on, young Jake! Work your dastardly magic!"

Of relevant note we bring you a bit of baseball history. Thanks to reader and tipster Ezell for the following link which is baseballreference.com's entry on the "spitball" . The "spitball" was banned in 1920 but it is interesting to not that 17 pitchers were grandfathered in and the rule was not applied to them for the rest of their careers.

The 17 spitball pitchers designated after the 1920 season were:

National League:
Bill Doak
Phil Douglas
Dana Fillingim
Ray Fisher
Marv Goodwin
Burleigh Grimes
Clarence Mitchell
Dick Rudolph

American League:
Doc Ayers
Ray Caldwell
Stan Coveleski
Red Faber
Dutch Leonard
Jack Quinn
Allan Russell
Urban Shocker
Allen Sothoron

Although Ray Fisher was designated as a legitimate spitballer, he was banned from baseball after the season, so he was unable to take advantage of the designation.