Pena fearlessly faces big-league challenge
Disappointments of past, current expectations fail to dilute
confidence of A's rookie
March 24, 2002

By JEFF FLETCHER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

PHOENIX
To hear Carlos Pena tell it, reaching the major leagues is a lot like
reaching a bullfight.

For the bull.

The A's first baseman said he was reading about how bulls are prepped
for bullfights in Spain.

"They want to see how many times a bull will charge forward despite
getting stuck with a blade," Pena said. "According to that, they know
if the bull is a courageous bull or not. It hurts, but he's charging.

"I know that life tests me in a like manner every single day. I feel
the sting of the blade. Am I going to charge forward or give in to
the sting? I will persist."

Compared to the treatment received by the bulls, it's no big deal to
go through spring training while carrying the weight of huge
expectations and a .150 batting average.

Neither, for that matter, is the disappointment of going undrafted
out of high school.

Or of sending out hundreds of letters to college baseball coaches,
only to get serious replies from four.

Or of working in a mailroom for nine months after your first college
baseball experience didn't work out.

These are some of the low points on what Pena fully expects to be the
road to big-league stardom, a road that he enjoys for its ups and
downs.

"I love that I'm being challenged," Pena said. "I'm going to get
doubters, and there will be people who will support me and people who
say I can't do it. I love it. I'm getting challenged in many ways."

Pena, 23, came to A's camp last month in a situation unlike anyone
else in baseball. Not only was he touted as one of the best young
prospects in the majors -- a rookie-of-the-year favorite -- but he is
expected to step in and play a position previously occupied by a
franchise icon.

The A's have done all they can to shield Pena from unreasonable
expectations. They try not to mention the name Jason Giambi.

Level-headed young player

Still, Pena has given dozens of interviews with reporters from around
the country, with the topic often coming back to those very things
from which the A's are trying to protect him.

Pena said he is proud of the way he has remained level-headed and in
control despite what he calls "negative energy" or "pressure points."
He is also remaining positive despite a spring training that has
hardly lived up to the billing.

He has been good at first base, but he has scuffled at the plate.

"The numbers to me, truly, have been disappointing this year, but
they are just the numbers," Pena said. "Only I know the way I feel.
Only I know the way I have played. I think I have had a very good
spring. I feel very athletic. Very light on my feet. I feel very
strong. I'm seeing the ball well, going deep in the count. I'm
working every day and getting that compact swing that I want.
Personally, I thought that I've had a pretty good swing. Obviously,
the numbers don't say that.

"For me personally, I will not use stats in spring training to judge
myself and my capabilities as a baseball player. I have a lot of
confidence in my ability and confidence in myself."

Hitting coach Thad Bosley said Pena has shown flashes of the hitter
he can become, but he's not there yet.

"We do need to tighten some things up, because against major-league
pitching he will get exposed on some of those things," Bosley said.

Bosley said in a few years Pena can hit .300 with 20-plus homers,
drawing 80 to 100 walks. Imagine Mark Grace with more power.

So far, Bosley and the A's are basing their impressions on just a
handful of spring-training at-bats and scouting reports they had on
him with Texas. At least one player has seen enough of Pena to know
there is much more to come. Minor-league catcher Cody McKay has
played with Pena in winter ball and played against him for a couple
years in the minors.

"He's got that Ken Griffey Jr. swing," McKay said. "It's real easy,
but the bat is so quick. When he gets a hold of the ball, it jumps.
Everyone says he's going to be a superstar, and from what I've seen I
believe it."

Everyone includes Pena himself.

Freedom to dream

Since he was a kid growing up in the Dominican Republic, Pena has
insisted he would be a big-league superstar. Even after his family
moved to suburban Boston in 1992, and after Pena had a high school
baseball career that gave no clue of his potential, he still signed
yearbooks: "Thank you all and watch me get there," referring to the
majors.

To this day, when most young players say they're just happy to be
here, Pena maintains he will be a star.

"I'm not afraid to say that," Pena said. "Very often as adults we
forget to dream. We leave the child in us, we try to lock him up and
shut him up forever and we don't even listen to him. I don't want to
do that to myself. I want to have the freedom to dream whenever I
want ... people may think I'm foolish for thinking that way, but I
think that's the only way I'm going to get the most out of myself."

Undrafted out of high school

Pena's confidence helped him weather the disappointment of going
undrafted out of high school. He wrote letters to hundreds of
colleges before finally finding his way to Wright State (Dayton,
Ohio). He left after a year because he didn't think he was going to
get an opportunity to play. He had nothing else lined up when he left
Wright State, so he spent nearly a year working in the mailroom at a
bank.

He eventually enrolled at Northeastern, in Boston, and there his
career blossomed. The Rangers selected him with the 10th overall pick
in the 1998 draft, and he's been considered a can't-miss prospect as
he's moved up through the minor leagues.

Of course, his path to the big leagues was blocked by Rafael Palmeiro
in Texas. That all changed when the A's acquired him.

Since the trade, Pena has faced even more challenges, from the
obvious Giambi references to more recent questions about whether he's
even ready for the big leagues.

If he didn't happen to be the only true first baseman on the roster,
there might be a chance he would start the season in the minors.
Instead, he'll probably be in the majors, trying to continue his
development while facing the best pitchers in the world.

Bosley said he expects Pena's rookie year to look a lot like Eric
Chavez's. In 1999, Chavez got off to a horrible start, but improved
in the second half. Like Pena, Chavez also came in carrying labels
like "future star" and "rookie-of-the-year favorite."

"There are a tremendous amount of expectations on him," Bosley
said. "There is a tendency to put pressure on yourself and maybe try
to do too much. After a while, you realize that you do in fact belong
in the major leagues and your natural ability takes over. Then you
start to work on the areas that the pitchers are trying to expose.
After you get confidence with that, then you start having success."

If this season does start off with more low points for Pena, they
will simply help him to enjoy the high points that he believes will
follow.

"I like the fact that it's difficult," he said. "I've fought many
battles, and there are many more battles to be fought. I have the
confidence in myself that I will triumph."
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