Nov. 2, 2006
Former Georgetown right-handed pitcher Eddie Pena (B `05) spent the 2006 season pursuing his dream, playing professional baseball and experiencing first-hand the roller coaster ride that is the business of baseball.
One week following graduation from the McDonough School of Business in the spring of 2005, Pena signed with the Worcester (Mass.) Tornadoes of the independent Can-Am league. He appeared in 32 games for Worcester, working 67 innings which included 60 strikeouts and just 17 walks during the regular season, helping the Tornadoes to a championship series sweep of the Quebec Capitales. Hours after helping the Tornadoes to the title, Pena was on a plane to Peoria, Arizona and the spring training home of the San Diego Padres because the righthanded, sidearmer had received an invitation to spring training from the National League club.
The 2006 season was Pena's first season with a Major League Baseball affiliated team. Pena moved up and down the organization's levels and at one point made it all the way the Padres' AAA club, the Portland (Ore.) Beavers. Following spring training, Pena was assigned to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to play for the Ft. Wayne Wizards, a low-A team that plays out of the Midwest League.
"I was in Ft. Wayne for about a month and a half, as a long reliever," said Pena. "I got a bunch of two or three-inning stints and totaled about 20 innings and worked to an earned run average of just above four. I lived in an apartment with two other guys during my stay. The Padres signed a couple of free agents so they sent me back to extended spring training. I was a little bummed about it (getting sent down) but I understand this is a business."
Pena's stay in extended spring training was just a bump in the road as just one week later and after a few organizational moves, Pena got the call he'd been waiting for.
"I was only in extended for one week before the Padres sent me all the way to the AAA club," Pena said. "At first I was shocked that I was going to Portland, I thought ,`That's only one step from the bigs,' but then I was just so excited to get the opportunity to pitch. Triple AAA was like two different worlds from where I had been. You play in stadiums, you don't have to pack your own bags, there's a pretty good spread of food before and after the game, it was everything I thought it would be."
Pena arrived in Portland for a four-game weekend series with against Colorado Springs (Rockies affiliate). He didn't get called into the game in the series opener, but pitched 2.2 innings in his first appearance, allowing two hits and striking out a batter.
Pena appeared in five games for Portland compiling 7.1 innings from May 30 until June 8. He didn't allow a run in his first four appearances before having a rough outing in a road game against Portland. Pena stayed with the beavers for three weeks, playing with and against guys he had never seen before. He didn't allow a run in his first five outings before hitting a rough patch in his final appearance.
He was then sent back to Ft. Wayne and spent most of the remainder of the season in there. His mid-May to mid-August stint with the Wizards came as a middle reliever.
"I tried to keep the same mentality, `Throw strikes, get ahead, work quickly.' I liked my middle relief role because I got more chances. More often than not the game is tighter. Our team was fighting for a playoff berth but I got re-assigned to the Double AA Mobile (Ala.) Baybears with about week left before our Ft. Wayne team clinched a playoff berth."
Pena was sent to Mobile on August 20 and finished the season there.
"I stayed in the same mid-reliever role," he said "The team won 13 of its final 15 games but the squad didn't qualify for the league playoffs."
While Pena has experienced success in his young career, he knows there are aspects of his game that could help him even more.
"The pro people expect you to coach yourself a lot more but it really is a business," said Pena. "You're there to do a specific you job for the team you're on. If you get reassigned, your role automatically changes a bit.
In Portland, Pena found himself on the same roster as current Padre Cla Meredith.
"Everyone is teling me to develop a slider so that is something I'm working on. I was able to work with Cla (a Virginia Commonwealth graduate) in the bullpen. He's sidearmer like me so that was a good experience. He's a bit more polished them me right now so I am working to get to that level.
"Mentally, baseball is baseball and the pitching is the same, but because I already have a spot in Spring Training in 2007, it will lot less stressful, Pena explained. "I already have a season under my belt so I am going to have to continue to work and improve."
Pena will spend the off-season playing in Venezuela continuing to chase the dream.
