Carlos' Corner: Living with A-Rod
Texas shortstop befriended Peña last season
By Carlos Peña / Special to MLB.com

Carlos Peña, 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.

Before Thursday's game against Texas, Peña talked about his
relationship with Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez.

ARLINGTON, Tex. -- When I first got called up to the big leagues with
Texas last year, I was living in a hotel. Then one day, Alex came up
to me and asked if I wanted to live with him for the rest of the
season.

At first I said, "No, don't worry. I'm cool at the hotel." But a
couple days later he said, "You're gonna make me angry now if you
don't come stay with me," so of course I moved in. Obviously it was a
great honor just to be asked. Pretty cool for a rookie, right?

I learned a lot in the time I spent with Alex, and one of the first
things I learned was that this guy loves the game of baseball. And
when I say he loves the game, I mean he's in love with the game.
Obsessed, insane, out of this world. Everything's ball, ball, ball
with Alex. He loves it that much, and that impressed me.

So of course we spent a lot of time talking about baseball, from the
game itself to dealing with fans and the media, on the field, off the
field. He taught me a lot about those kinds of things.

But we spent a lot of time talking about things other than baseball,
too. Things totally non-baseball-related, like family. That was
quality time.

Everybody knows that Alex is very businesslike in his approach to the
game, and he's very articulate and intelligent. What some people
might not know about Alex is that even though he kind of keeps to
himself, he's quite funny. He dropped a lot of sarcasm on me. If I
ever did anything stupid on the field or in the clubhouse that day,
I'd hear about it from him all night.

More than anything, Alex made me feel more comfortable about being in
the big leagues. He made me feel like I belong. And now that I'm not
with him, he just tells me, "Hey, it's your time now. I gave you a
head start, now do something with it in Oakland."

So that's what I'm trying to do. I appreciate the lessons that he
taught me. I will never forget what he did for me. And one of the
ways I can show my appreciation is by putting what he taught me to
good use.

Carlos Peña's diary appears as told to Mychael Urban, who covers the
Oakland A's for MLB.com.