Wily Modesto Peña Gutierrez (born January 23, 1982) is a Dominican former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

, and in NPB for the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...

and

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture ...

. At 6 feet, 3 inches in height and nearly 300 pounds, the right-handed batting and throwing Peña is considered a pure

power hitter Power hitter is a term used in baseball for a skilled player that has a higher than average ability in terms of his Batting (baseball), batting, featuring a combination of dexterity and personal strength that likely leads to a high number of hom ...

best known for his long-distance

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and high

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

rate.

Professional career

Originally signed by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

as an amateur free agent in , Peña signed with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

about a year later and was traded to the

for

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

Drew Henson and

Michael Coleman in .

Cincinnati Reds

Pena debuted with the Reds as a September call-up in , and got a single while pinch hitting in his first major league at-bat. Peña proved his label as a power hitter, hitting a home run in his second major league game, off

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Steve Smyth. From through , Peña was a fourth outfielder with the Reds, and saw substantial playing time in center field covering for the often injured Ken Griffey Jr., and backing up Austin Kearns in

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

. Over his career in Cincinnati, Peña batted .248 with 51 home runs and 134 RBIs in 302 games.

Boston Red Sox

The Reds traded Peña to the

during

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in for pitcher Bronson Arroyo. Over the course of the season, Peña again served as a fourth outfielder and one half of a

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

in right field. He batted a career-high .301 with a personal best

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

of .349 in 299 plate appearances. Following an injury to Coco Crisp, Peña filled in at center field. On May 27, he was placed on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

after surgery was required for an injured tendon in his left wrist. On July 18, Pena was activated from the disabled list. After platoon-mate Trot Nixon injured his biceps on July 30, Peña played more frequently in right field. The next day he fell a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

short of

hitting for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hit (baseball), hits a single (baseball), single, a double (baseball), double, a triple (baseball), triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that ...

in a 9–8 win over the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. Pena hit .301 with 11 home runs in the 2006 season. The only action Peña saw in with the Red Sox was filling in for Crisp and J. D. Drew in center and right field. Peña hit a grand slam off closer Chris Ray of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

to help the Red Sox to a 5–2 victory on April 26. Throughout the season, Peña was rumored to be on the trading block, including a deal at the trade deadline that failed to go through.

Washington Nationals

On August 17, Peña was traded to the

, with the Red Sox receiving 25-year-old first baseman Chris Carter and the

receiving Emiliano Fruto and cash considerations from Washington. Peña hit well for the Nationals, and finished 2007 with a cumulative 289 at-bats, 13 home runs and he batted .259 with a .319 on-base percentage and a .439 slugging percentage. His $2.3 million signing bonus is now the third largest ever for an amateur free agent. In December 2007, he signed a one-year contract with the Nationals for $2 million with a mutual option for 2009 of $2 million. On March 28, , Peña was designated for assignment by the Nationals and placed on waivers. Peña went unclaimed and declined an assignment to the minor leagues so he was unconditionally released.

New York Mets

On April 20, , Peña signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets and was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo. He was released on June 22, 2009.

Bridgeport Bluefish

On May 30, 2010, Pena began playing for the Bridgeport Bluefish, an independent team in the Atlantic League. In 38 games for Bridgeport, Peña hit .310 with 8 home runs and 38 runs batted in. During the offseason Wily played for the

Tigres del Licey Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and is based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Tigres is the oldest team in LIDOM and ...

of the Dominican Winter League.

San Diego Padres

On July 19, 2010, Peña was signed to a minor league deal by the Padres and assigned to Triple-A Portland.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Peña signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the

prior to the 2011 season. As of mid-June, he was hitting .356 with 21 homers and 62 RBIs for the team's Triple-A affiliate in Reno. He was called up on June 21 and hit a home run that night in his first major league game in 3 years. In a game against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

on June 24, Pena launched a go-ahead homer an estimated 454 feet deep into the left-field seats at

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium (Detroit), Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, t ...

to give the Diamondbacks a 7–6 lead and the eventual victory. Four days later, in a game at

Chase Field Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. It opened in 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks season, 1998, the ...

with the

tied at 4 in the bottom of the ninth inning and Ryan Roberts on third base, Peña powered a walk-off homer into the seats in left field giving the D-Backs a 6–4 win. On July 15, 2011, Peña was designated for assignment. He was released on July 24.

Seattle Mariners

Pena signed a minor league contract with the

on July 27, 2011. The Mariners purchased his contract on August 13. He elected free agency on October 30. In 76 minor league games that year, Pena hit 25 home runs with 77 RBI, with a line of .358 / .440 / .712 and an OPS 1.152.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

On November 29, 2011, Pena signed a 2-year contract with the

of the

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). In 2012, he hit .280 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI in 130 games. In 2013, he hit .233 with 16 RBI and 1 home run in 55 games.

Orix Buffaloes

In 2014, he hit .255 with 32 homers and 90 RBIs in 140 games for the Orix Buffaloes of NPB.

Rakuten Golden Eagles

In 2015, Peña moved to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of NPB where he hit .268 with 17 home runs.

Cleveland Indians

On February 6, 2017, Peña signed a one-year, minor league contract with the

. The team released him at the end of spring training.

Chiba Lotte Marines

On June 6, 2017, Pena signed with the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings, Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific Le ...

of NPB.

Philanthropy

In 2007, Peña and his MoPeace Foundation teamed up with Joslin Diabetes Center's Latino Diabetes Initiative for the Beisbol y Salud Latino Diabetes and Health Festival to educate Latino men, women and children about

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

. Peña currently volunteers his time to youth baseball in the Tampa, Florida area.

References

External links

Career Home Run Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Wily Mo 1982 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Boston Red Sox players Bridgeport Bluefish players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Chiba Lotte Marines players Cincinnati Reds players Columbus Clippers players Dayton Dragons players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Greensboro Bats players Gulf Coast Yankees players Louisville Bats players Lowell Spinners players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Nippon Professional Baseball designated hitters Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Orix Buffaloes players Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Laguna Salada Sportspeople from Valverde Province Portland Beavers players Reno Aces players Seattle Mariners players Staten Island Yankees players Tacoma Rainiers players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Washington Nationals players World Baseball Classic players of the Dominican Republic 2006 World Baseball Classic players