Tony Peña, Jr.

Infobox MLB player


width = 150px
name=Tony Pena

position=Shortstop
team=Kansas City Royals
number=1
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1981|3|23
debutdate=April 13
debutyear=2006
debutteam=Atlanta Braves
statyear=July 16, 2008
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.237
stat2label=RBI
stat2value=59
stat3label=HR
stat3value=4
teams=
*Atlanta Braves (by|2006)
*Kansas City Royals (by|2007–present)

Tony Francisco Peña (born March 23, 1981 in Santiago, Dominican Republic) is the starting shortstop for the Kansas City Royals.cite web | title=Notes: Tony Peña at www.retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org ] Peña is the son of former Major League player and Royals manager Tony Peña and is the nephew of Ramón Peña, who pitched for the Detroit Tigers in by|1989. Even though his name and his father's name (Antonio Francisco Peña) are not identical, the younger Peña is sometimes referred to as "Tony Peña Jr." by fans to distinguish one from the other.

A non-drafted free agent, Peña was inked to a contract on July 21, 1999 by the Atlanta Braves. He made his big league debut with Atlanta on April 13, 2006. His first Major League hit came on April 21 at Washington against the Nationals. He appeared in 40 games for the Braves, batting .227 with a home run and three RBIs in 44 at-bats.cite web | title=Notes: Tony Peña at www.retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org ]

On March 23, 2007, Peña was traded to Kansas City for pitching prospect Erik Cordier. In Peña's first game as a Royal, he hit two triples.cite web | title=Notes: Tony Peña at www.retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org ] Peña finished by|2007, his first full season, at .267/.284/.356 with two homers and 47 RBIs. He also stroked seven triples and stole five bases.cite web | title=Notes: Tony Peña at www.retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org ] Pena lost his job as a regular starter in the middle of 2008 mainly due to his very bad hitting numbers (.157 Batting average, .177 On-Base percentage, .196 slugging percentage though May 30th, 2008) along with the emergence of Mike Aviles. Due to this change in roles, Pena has rarely started since June 2008.

Pena made his major league pitching debut on July 21, 2008, by performing mop-up duty in a 19–4 blowout loss against the Detroit Tigers. Requiring only 12 pitches, he pitched a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout of Iván Rodríguez.Kaegel, Dick. [http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080721&content_id=3168649&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=kc Royals subjected to Tigers' revenge] "MLB.com", 22 July 2008.]

tatistics

small|Roll over stat abbreviations for definitions. Stats through September 10, 2008.cite web| url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/penato02.shtml | title=Tony Pena, Jr. Statistics| work=Baseball-Reference| accessdate=2008-08-10]

ee also

* List of second generation MLB players
* Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic

References

External links