Carlos' Corner: 'It's a little strange'
Rookie returns to Texas for first time since trade
By Carlos Pena / Special to MLB.com
Carlos Peņa, a 23-year-old rookie heralded as one of the top
prospects in the game, was acquired by Oakland during the offseason
in a six-player trade with Texas. He's replacing Jason Giambi as the
A's first baseman and is providing for MLB.com an exclusive daily
diary for the 2002 season.
Peņa played his first game in Texas since the trade and went 0-for-4
with two strikeouts. After the game he offered his thoughts on being
back in Arlington.
ARLINGTON, Tex. -- It's a little strange to be here in another
uniform, I'll admit that. This was my home last year after I got
called up to the big leagues, and it was me over there in the other
dugout wearing red, white and blue.
And I'll admit something else: I thought I would be a Texas Ranger
for a long time. But things have a way of working themselves out in
this world, so I know that what happened is for the best. And believe
me: I'm happy to be here as part of the Oakland A's. It's a great
situation for me.
Coming back to this ballpark and this city will always be special to
me. The fans here have been good to me, and they were good to me
tonight. There were a couple of signs saying, "Welcome Back, Carlos,"
and a lot of people had some nice things to say to me.
That makes me feel good, because whenever you leave somewhere, you
want to leave it on good terms. You never want to burn a bridge.
It's nice to see a lot of familiar faces, and not just my former
teammates. I saw them last week in Oakland. I'm talking about the
ushers, security guards, the fans asking for autographs. It was good
to see their smiles again, and to give them a smile back.
I don't expect these people to be Oakland A's fans, because the fans
here are very loyal to their team. But if they can be Carlos Peņa
fans when I'm not playing the Texas Rangers, that would make me
happy.
Carlos Peņa's diary appears as told to Mychael Urban, who covers the
Oakland A's for MLB.com.
