Carlos' Corner: Moving day
Peņa settles in with four teammates/roommates
By Carlos Peņa / 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.
Monday was a day off for the A's, and Peņa spent it moving into a
five-bedroom house already occupied by teammates Mark Mulder, Eric
Chavez, Mike Colangelo and Mike Venafro. Before Tuesday's game
against Seattle, Peņa detailed the day
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Yesterday was all about moving in with my new
roommates, and we had a great day off. Basically it was split into
two parts. The daytime was used for domestic things, and at night we
had some fun. A lot of fun.
During the day we did a lot of cleaning and setting up our rooms. I
had a bed that came in a box, so that had to be put together, and
then we went to the mall and to Target to get some things for the
house. It was about as regular as it gets. Just some guys trying to
get settled in.
At night it was all about video games. Lots of video games on the
Xbox. We played Halo, a boxing game. It was a great time. Lots of
laughter.
It's a big house, an older house. Nice and cozy. And it's nice that
we have five bedrooms, because you can spend as much time as you
could possibly want with the rest of the guys, but if you want some
quiet time, it's there for you in your room. When I need to think or
to read or just talk to my family, I just go to my bedroom. It's a
perfect mix.
It's nice, too, because everyone in the house really gets along and
respects each other. So if someone wants to have a quiet night,
that's cool. I like that about these guys. I think I'll be very
comfortable there.
One of the big attractions for me moving in with these guys was
Chavvy. As soon as I met him, I told myself that I need to be next to
this guy. He's not much older than me, but he's been through so many
more experiences, and some of them are similar to what I've either
been through already or will go through soon.
I can learn so much from Chavvy, and he's always willing to share
with me, so I'd be crazy not to try to soak as much of it in as
possible. Actually, I can learn from the other guys in the house,
too, so I think I'm going to have a very fun and educational time
living with them.
Carlos Peņa's diary appears as told to Mychael Urban, who covers the
Oakland A's for MLB.com.
