Giants’ Jake Peavy, Angels’ Josh Hamilton are emotional contrasts

San Francisco Giants right-hander Jake Peavy, who will start Game 2 of the World Series against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night, has always been a pitcher who wears his heart on his sleeve … and his cap, his jersey, his pants and his stirrups, for that matter.

“I think any of you who know me know I’m passionate about everything, even the way I speak about anything in life,” Peavy said in the Kauffman Stadium interview room on Tuesday. “I’m very laid-back off the field … but I don’t feel like that’s the way to play baseball. It’s not the way I was taught to play baseball.

“So I really have the old Southern dig-your-toes-in-the-mud, try-to-make-your-stand approach. For me, it comes out in ways that I look back and my children go, ‘God, Daddy, you were really excited.’ They had me turning into the Incredible Hulk in Washington after the double play” in the National League division series.

Peavy’s mound demeanor is in stark contrast to mild-mannered Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton, who was ripped by TBS analyst and former major leaguer Gary Sheffield for his “bad body language” in the American League division series, when Hamilton showed virtually no emotion after his feeble at-bats.

“We’re in the playoffs. You have to show some fire and energy,” Sheffield said. “Teammates feed off of that. When you see a guy strike out and walk back [to the dugout] like nothing is going on … that is a bad sign for this team.”

Hamilton missed most of September because of right shoulder, rib-cage and chest injuries, and he was clearly overmatched during a three-game sweep at the hands of the Royals, going hitless in 13 at-bats.

But he took exception to Sheffield’s comments, saying he has never been overly demonstrative on the field, even when he was one of baseball’s most feared sluggers for the Texas Rangers from 2008-2012.

“Look at my career, how I respond and react on the field,” Hamilton said during the division series. “I’m not going to throw my helmet or slam my bat. I’m not going to set a bad example for kids watching.”

But what about setting a good example for his teammates? That, according to Peavy, is part of his motivation to pump his fists and let out primal screams on the mound, even at the expense of offending opponents.

“At the end of the day, I don’t feel bad; I don’t apologize for showing that emotion,” Peavy said. “And I think it shows my teammates and the fans, so to speak, how emotionally invested you are in this and how much it means to you.”

“I think sometimes it can elevate your team because they see how bad you want it, and it makes them want it no less than that. I don’t do it for that specific reason, but I do know that’s a direct effect of it.”