Tampa Bay Rays' Carlos Peña breaks two fingers, out for season
By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Manager Joe Maddon checks on Carlos Peņa, whose season ends with 39 home runs and 100 RBIs. "I think it's an emotional blow for us, there's no doubt about that," Gabe Kapler said of losing Peņa.
NEW YORK — The pain Carlos Peña felt after being struck on the left hand by CC Sabathia's 93-mph fastball, then when he tried valiantly to stay in Monday's game and checked his swing, was excruciating, enough that he wondered later how he didn't pass out.
But the reality that his season was over — the result of two broken fingers — was worse.
"I was crushed," Peña said. "I felt like if you took my heart and threw it around and stepped on it a million times, that's how bad it felt. … That hurt more than the hit by pitch itself. I know I'm going to be on some medication and the pain in my hand can be controlled, but the pain I feel in my heart and in my soul right now, that's the one that's going to be tough to get over.
"I really was very much looking forward to the next three weeks, not only for myself but for my team. Even though it was going to take a lot of winning, I felt like we were poised for that. So I'm just bummed out that I won't be able to be part of that."
Peña fractured his middle and index fingers but said the middle got the worst of it, describing it looking on the X-rays like "a pencil snapped in half." He will fly home this morning to be examined by specialist Dr. Doug Carlan and may require surgery, but he is expected to be fully healed by the start of spring training.
The injury was a devastating blow because Peña is not only the Rays' hottest and most productive hitter (an American League-high 39 homers and 100 RBIs) and smooth-fielding first baseman but also their onfield and clubhouse leader.
"I think it's an emotional blow for us, there's no doubt about that," outfielder Gabe Kapler said. "He's swinging the bat as good as anybody in the league right now, he hits in the middle of our lineup, he plays great defense, his energy is consistently positive. So I think that we'll feel the impact of 'Los not being around."
"It's pretty severe," manager Joe Maddon. "It's not optimal. It's very discouraging."
Willy Aybar will have the primary duty of replacing Peña, along with Chris Richard, who was called up from Triple A and arrived just before Monday's second game, and Ben Zobrist as the Rays maintain their slim postseason hopes.
"Obviously Carlos is an impact player. … It would be kind of stupid of me to say it's not going to have an impact on the club," Evan Longoria said. "Obviously I'm sad for him and I feel for him. It's a bad way to end a year — a good year.
"But on the flip side, we've got to keep going forward. It's going to be hard not to kind of let that get us down, but I think this team has the ability to put things behind them and keep moving forward."
Peña, 31, said that's the message he planned to spread among his teammates: to maintain their energy and optimism, carry forward with the same intangibles.
Peña — who missed 20 games in June 2008 when his left index finger was broken by a Justin Masterson pitch in Boston — knew it was bad as soon as he was hit by Sabathia's 0-and-1 pitch in the first inning, which was called a swinging strike on appeal to the third-base umpire.
"You don't take a 95-mph fastball on your finger and live to tell about it, or your finger lives to tell about it," he said.
After a lengthy delay — in which he was jeered and booed by the Yankee Stadium holiday crowd — Peña took a few practice swings and felt the pain, though considerable, was manageable.
But when he got back in the box and started, and stopped, his swing at game speed, he dropped his bat and headed right off the field and really didn't need to wait for the X-rays to know.
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