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Carlos Peņa, who turned 24 on Friday, was acquired by Oakland during the offseason in a six-player trade with Texas. Now the A's starting first baseman, he won the American League's Rookie of the Month award for April, and he's providing for MLB.com an exclusive daily diary for the 2002 season.
Before Friday's series opener in Toronto, Peņa, who spent most of his teen years in the Boston area and attended Northeastern University, looked back at Oakland's just-concluded series at Fenway Park.
TORONTO -- Being back home was incredible but crazy. That's the best way I can put it. So many people, so many things to do. It was almost too much, but I loved every minute of it because I know how rare it's going to be for me to spend that kind of time with the people close to me.
We got to Boston on Monday, and I had a nice little get-together for my friends and family in the restaurant of the hotel we stayed in. Probably about 40 people in all. It was awesome, because it was everyone in the same room. Basically we just sat around, ate, talked and laughed. One of my friends even brought some magic tricks.
Our first game at Fenway was on Tuesday, and I can honestly say I felt butterflies for the first time in the big leagues. I couldn't believe I was nervous. I was like, "What's going on here? I never get nervous." But I was. I had 40 people there just to watch me. Mom, dad, my brother and sister, my old college teammates ... I had to beg, borrow and steal to get everyone tickets.
Before Tuesday and Wednesday's games, I didn't see anyone at all. I just slept, got my rest, concentrated on baseball. But after the games it was very similar to Monday night. A lot of people, a lot of laughing and catching up.
The highlight of going home -- by far -- was Thursday morning. They had a reception for me at my old school, Northeastern. The school is on the site of the Red Sox's original field, and they have the old mound and home plate still. It was Carlos Peņa Day, and everyone was there -- the university president, the athletic director, everyone.
The coolest thing is that on campus, there's a statue of Cy Young, who used to pitch for the Red Sox, and the school presented me with a replica of the statue. Incredible. Personally, I don't think I'm worthy of something like that, but I will cherish that statue forever. I have a lot of trophies at home from my earlier day, but this is probably the coolest one I'll ever get.
I had a great time with everybody in Boston, but what made it really special besides the ceremony was being able to see my brother, Omar, and my sister, Femaris. It was great to see my mother and father, of course, but I got to see them in New York just last month. I hadn't seen Omar and Femaris in a long, long time, and they mean so much to me. It was beautiful just to see their smiles again
Carlos Peņa's diary appears as told to Mychael Urban, who covers the Oakland A's for MLB.com and can be reached at murban@oaklandathletics.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
