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Pena Finally Has Something To Build On

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 2, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Joe Torre was headed down a corridor on the bottom level of Tropicana Field late in September, right after the New York Yankees played here for the final time of the season. About that time, Carlos Pena left the Rays clubhouse and spotted Torre.

"I have to pay my respects to someone who deserves it," is how Pena put it, so he walked up to the then-skipper of the Yankees.

He wasn't prepared for what happened next.

Instead of giving a perfunctory handshake and quick nod - hi, howareya, good luck - as he headed to the team bus, Torre cupped Pena's face with both hands, looked him squarely in the eyes, and said, "I am so proud of you."

Pena was almost finished with a season that would earn him American League Comeback Player of the Year honors. He would finish with 46 home runs, 121 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .627. He even had 103 walks. That's a lot to be proud of.

Still, Pena - who had played in the Yankees' minor-league system during a nomadic four-year career - was stunned.

"That meant a lot to me," he said. "Joe Torre is one of the best managers of all time, so coming from him that meant a lot to me. I really appreciated that. He didn't have to do it. It was really cool. It was a very classy thing to do."

A classy gesture, yes - by a classy man, to a classy man. The Rays also showed how they felt about Pena after the season, signing the former non-roster invitee to a three-year contract worth $24.125 million. As the Rays try to build a contender after years of futility, they have chosen Pena as one of the cornerstones.

"It's just so good for this organization to reward him for that," teammate Jonny Gomes said. "It couldn't happen to a better guy. It sends a nice message. If you're hungry before, you've got to be starving now."

Wanted To Be Here

Fate, as we know, has never been kind to the Rays, so maybe it was overdue karma when Pena fell on their doorstep and wouldn't go away.

He was released twice in 2006 - once from the Yankees' Triple-A team, and then from the Red Sox. Although he hit 27 home runs for Detroit in 2004, he had trouble finding a home. The Rays are his fifth big-league team in his relatively short career.

Still, it took an injury to Greg Norton to open a roster spot for Pena. The Rays had reassigned him to minor-league camp last March 30, but later that day Norton hurt his knee and Pena turned an about-Pipp and rejoined the club. He'll be here for a while.

"More than anything, he was just so mentally focused. It's so easy for a bad game to ruin a month of playing, but he didn't allow that," Gomes said. "The other thing is that he really took his walks. That's tough.

"Everyone can start hot, but to finish hot like he did is the hottest part. Everyone knew who he was. When the game was on the line they were pitching around him. He'd see maybe one pitch an at-bat, and he was still hitting it out. It's a beautiful thing to watch someone do that from the left-handed side. He was hitting them out of every ballpark."

While he was compiling those numbers though, an amazing thing was happening. Pena kept speaking, frequently, about his desire to play out his career in Tampa Bay. He even visited Manager Joe Maddon near the trade deadline to plead for the Rays to let him be part of the long-term solution.

"I honestly feel honored that I am a Ray at a time where this team is evolving to the next level," he said. "We understand there is still a process - we still have to go between the lines and play the games.

"But in our minds we believe we have vision of a successful team, a winning team. It's almost ingrained in our minds that we can. When we truly believe that, it will happen. And I honestly believe we're closer than anybody thinks."

Hard To Match

Nothing in Pena's past suggested he had a season like 2007 in him - but no, don't go there, not this with this guy. It's a cynical time for baseball, granted, but you could swear on Abner Doubleday's grave that Pena did it clean and walk away with no fear of being wrong.

Still, it is legitimate to wonder how close Pena can come to duplicating those numbers. Then again, who could? Only 10 other players in American League history have reached 45 homers, 120 RBIs, and 100 walks in a single season. You may have heard of some them - guys named Ruth, Foxx, Mantle and Greenberg among that select company.

"All I want him to do is approach every day like he did last year," Maddon said. "He may not reach those numbers, but he's going to reach something close to it. Is he going to exceed it? I have no idea. I mean, we'd all love that."

Pena just flashes that trademark smile when you ask him about such things.

"Last year, I started playing baseball again just because I like it. I was like a kid again," he said. "If you can get back to that, that's just great. Last season is always going to be a source of energy for me and confidence. It would be a smart thing for any athlete to do to look at his past successes and really use that to help you become a better player today.

"I'm going to do that, no doubt about it. But you also have to put in perspective. We have a blank slate now. Go out there, enjoy yourself, have fun, and try to do it again."

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