Carlos' Corner: 'I'm just trying to be a good man'
By Carlos Pena
Special to MLB.com
Carlos Peņa, a 23-year-old rookie, was acquired by Oakland during the
offseason in a six-player trade with Texas. Expected to replace Jason
Giambi as the A's starting first baseman, perhaps as soon as Opening
Day, Peņa is considered one of the top prospects in the game and is
providing for MLB.com an exclusive daily diary for the 2002 season.
Peņa went 0-for-4 Saturday against the White Sox, then addressed his
desire to share and exchange ideas about life with his friends, fans
and family.
PHOENIX -- One of the reasons I agreed to do this diary was because
I think it's an excellent opportunities to share my thoughts and
opinions with fans, especially the young fans. I want to be a
positive influence on young people, and this is one way to try to
accomplish that.
But I don't want it to in any way come across like I think I know
everything about life, because I know that I don't. I'm still tying
to figure it out like anyone else, and I don't think anyone ever
really figures life out completely. That's why I think it's so
important to share and exchange ideas with everybody.
I'm just trying to be a good man, and to do that I want to learn from
everyone I come into contact with. That's why, when my two brothers
and my sister -- they're all younger than me -- say that they look up
to me, I say, "No. Don't look up to me. I'm not perfect by any
means." I can learn from them just as much as they can learn from me,
so when we talk, we talk about everything, and we just listen to each
other's views and opinions.
The last thing in the world I want is to be perceived as someone who
thinks he can lecture people on how to be a good person. We're all in
this together, so when I use this diary to put my thoughts or
opinions out there, understand that that's all it is -- my thoughts
and opinions.
Some people, I'm sure, will have different thoughts and opinions, and
that's great. That's what's part of what makes life so interesting.
Carlos Peņa's diary appears as told to Mychael Urban, who covers the A's for
MLB.com.
