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08-17-2006, 09:15 AM
Not so fast on that right turn in outfield
By Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff | August 16, 2006
Just when Wily Mo Peña was starting to get comfortable at the plate, just when he was starting to get comfortable in right field, this had to happen.
The ball, flicked out to short right field by Craig Monroe, was just at the point where foul territory narrows to a small strip of land. And Peña, hot on its case, couldn't quite make the catch, as the ball hit off the side of his glove. On the play, Carlos Guillen scored from third in the ninth inning with the decisive run in Detroit's 3-2 victory over the Red Sox.
It brought back memories for Peña. Not such good ones.
After his trip to Fenway Park last season as a Cincinnati Red and his first few weeks with the Red Sox this year, Peña seemed destined for trouble every time he took to the park's right field. But lately, he said, he has become much more secure in the position. (He wants you to know he heard the boos those first few days. He thought you weren't going to like him.)
When he was traded, he said, that was the very first thing he was told: He'd be playing right field, and he'd have to get used to the unique aspects of Fenway, no simple task.
"I feel now like this is my spot," Peña had said before the game. ``I feel comfortable there."
Which seemed to be true. Just not last night.
``My mind was like, `Catch that ball,' " said Peña, who was not assessed an error on the play, in which his body was in fair territory and the ball seemed to be in foul. `` `Catch that ball, then think about home plate. Just go for the ball.'
``I felt like I had to make that play."
He didn't make the play, though he did get one out when he nabbed Monroe off first after the Tiger made a wide turn. But his defensive shortcomings ended up overshadowing what Peña is doing at the plate, in many ways buoying a team that has lost two big bats to the disabled list in Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek.
Slapping a two-out single in his first trip to the plate and adding a Wall-scraping double in the seventh, Peña extended his season-high hitting streak to nine games, just two short of his career-high 11-game streak with the Reds last season. It's not quite Joe DiMaggio. Heck, it's not even Manny Ramírez. But it does show that Peña doesn't operate with a homer-or-strikeout, all-or-nothing mentality.
``I know I have some power, so now I have to show I can hit for average, too," said Peña, who is up to .417 with 9 RBIs and 9 runs over the nine games. ``I want to prove I have that combination. You just have to be more comfortable. I've been playing more and more. The more you learn is how you get better. I'm just trying to do that.
``Everybody can see the difference. When you're not playing every day, it's not the same. You're not going to feel the same at home plate. When you play that one time in a week, you want to go in there and do everything just in that game. It's not easy."
Playing semi-regularly in 2004 and 2005, Peña hit 45 home runs in 647 at-bats, impressing people with the long ball (especially in 2004, when he hit 26). But his .259 average in 2004 and .254 average in 2005 didn't indicate that he could have a season like the one he's having now, with a .320 average and .368 on-base percentage.
``I'm not an everyday player yet," Peña said. ``I want to [be]. I just have to keep playing. I want people to think I can hit for average. They know I can hit it far away. Now I just want to change their mind a little bit."
And, perhaps, work out a few more kinks in right field.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/08/16/not_so_fast_on_that_right_turn_in_outfield?mode=PF
By Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff | August 16, 2006
Just when Wily Mo Peña was starting to get comfortable at the plate, just when he was starting to get comfortable in right field, this had to happen.
The ball, flicked out to short right field by Craig Monroe, was just at the point where foul territory narrows to a small strip of land. And Peña, hot on its case, couldn't quite make the catch, as the ball hit off the side of his glove. On the play, Carlos Guillen scored from third in the ninth inning with the decisive run in Detroit's 3-2 victory over the Red Sox.
It brought back memories for Peña. Not such good ones.
After his trip to Fenway Park last season as a Cincinnati Red and his first few weeks with the Red Sox this year, Peña seemed destined for trouble every time he took to the park's right field. But lately, he said, he has become much more secure in the position. (He wants you to know he heard the boos those first few days. He thought you weren't going to like him.)
When he was traded, he said, that was the very first thing he was told: He'd be playing right field, and he'd have to get used to the unique aspects of Fenway, no simple task.
"I feel now like this is my spot," Peña had said before the game. ``I feel comfortable there."
Which seemed to be true. Just not last night.
``My mind was like, `Catch that ball,' " said Peña, who was not assessed an error on the play, in which his body was in fair territory and the ball seemed to be in foul. `` `Catch that ball, then think about home plate. Just go for the ball.'
``I felt like I had to make that play."
He didn't make the play, though he did get one out when he nabbed Monroe off first after the Tiger made a wide turn. But his defensive shortcomings ended up overshadowing what Peña is doing at the plate, in many ways buoying a team that has lost two big bats to the disabled list in Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek.
Slapping a two-out single in his first trip to the plate and adding a Wall-scraping double in the seventh, Peña extended his season-high hitting streak to nine games, just two short of his career-high 11-game streak with the Reds last season. It's not quite Joe DiMaggio. Heck, it's not even Manny Ramírez. But it does show that Peña doesn't operate with a homer-or-strikeout, all-or-nothing mentality.
``I know I have some power, so now I have to show I can hit for average, too," said Peña, who is up to .417 with 9 RBIs and 9 runs over the nine games. ``I want to prove I have that combination. You just have to be more comfortable. I've been playing more and more. The more you learn is how you get better. I'm just trying to do that.
``Everybody can see the difference. When you're not playing every day, it's not the same. You're not going to feel the same at home plate. When you play that one time in a week, you want to go in there and do everything just in that game. It's not easy."
Playing semi-regularly in 2004 and 2005, Peña hit 45 home runs in 647 at-bats, impressing people with the long ball (especially in 2004, when he hit 26). But his .259 average in 2004 and .254 average in 2005 didn't indicate that he could have a season like the one he's having now, with a .320 average and .368 on-base percentage.
``I'm not an everyday player yet," Peña said. ``I want to [be]. I just have to keep playing. I want people to think I can hit for average. They know I can hit it far away. Now I just want to change their mind a little bit."
And, perhaps, work out a few more kinks in right field.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/08/16/not_so_fast_on_that_right_turn_in_outfield?mode=PF