• Pena credits his father, Felipe, for his positive outlook on life. Felipe was a successful electrical engineer in the Dominican Republic when he decided to move his family to the United States in search of a better life. And Carlos's mother, Mery (yes, that is the correct spelling), was an accountant and teacher. Both left those professional jobs to ensure a better education and life for their four children. That was 1992, when Carlos didn't speak hardly any English.
  
  They lived in a tiny apartment in a dangerous area of Haverhill, Massachusetts. And both parents had to take jobs far beneath their qualifications, Felipe at a waste-treatment center and Mery at a nursing home. They lived in an unheated attic at first.
  
  In 2001, Carlos's Dad, Felipe, earned his MBA. His thesis was on Major League Baseball's business practices because he wanted to better understand what his son is going through. And he started his own company.
  
  Mery Pena is teaching full time.

"I don't even know how that came about, but one day he started doing it, and he does it every day and changes it up," Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria said. "We yell, we laugh. It's something that loosens us up. It's one of the reasons this clubhouse is so loose."

"It gets us together, it reminds us to have fun out there, which is the true character of this team," Rays outfielder Fernando Perez said. "It's self deprecating, young, carefree - it gets us rallying around. It's really a bunch of men yelling at a guy to jump and clapping hands. It's very silly, but I can't imagine a game without it, really."

• Pena is exemplary in his conduct both on the field and off of it.
• He has an easy, short, powerful, classic lefthanded swing. He can hit for both average and power, producing lots of runs. The slight uppercut in his swing is perfect for a power hitter.
  
  

  Players with the kind of lefthanded power Carlos Pena has are hard to find. And he hits good pitching.

• He used to be very vulnerable to breaking pitches and lefthanded pitchers still get him out most of the time. He needs to stay back on the breaking ball and not look for fastballs so often.
  
  You don't see him chase bad pitches very often anymore. He hits from a very wide base, which allows him to really use his hands. You have to be very strong to be that spread out at the plate. (October, 2008)

• Carlos is a graceful defensive first baseman with good athleticism. He has good footwork around the bag. He has quick feet and pretty soft hands. He has very good range and is very aggressive with the glove. He actually can try to be too flashy with the leather at first base. That is when he gets caught between hops. But maturity has taken care of that mild flaw.
• Pena can really pick it. His glove can save games. And he doesn't take a bad at-bat into the field with him.

• Pena can also play the outfield corners. His arm is a good one.

• Carlos won his first Rawlings Gold Glove in 2008.

• Carlos has enough speed to steal an occasional base and leg out a double. He can run the bases well.

• June 2-27, 2003: Pena was on the D.L. with a strained left hamstring.
• June 4-27, 2008: Carlos was on the D.L. with a broken left index finger, suffered when Red Sox P Justin Masterson hit him with a pitch in the first inning of the game on June 3.

• October 2, 2008: Pena had to leave the Rays' playoff game before the 3rd inning because of extreme eye irritation caused by a scratched cornea. He tried to play through it, but his vision was significantly blurred.
  
  Drops and antibiotics, along with using a clear contact lens for protection helped him return.

• January 8, 2009: Pena underwent minor abdominal sugery, performed by Dr. William Myers in Philadelphia. It kept Carlos from playing in the World Baseball Classic for his native Dominican Republic.