Tony Peña Marquee

b. June 4, 1957 · Pittsburgh Pirates 1980–1986, St. Louis Cardinals 1987–1989, Boston Red Sox 1990–1993, Cleveland Indians 1994–1996, Chicago White Sox 1997, Houston Astros 1997

He caught from a stance nobody else used: right leg extended straight out to the side, body almost sitting on the dirt, which gave the pitcher a low target and gave him nothing to push off. Four Gold Gloves and 1,950 games behind the plate say it worked.

Eighteen seasons gave him 1,687 hits, 107 home runs, 708 runs batted in and a .260 average, with five All-Star selections. He hit .301 for Pittsburgh in 1983 and .286 the following year, which for a catcher of that period was a considerable bat.

He managed Kansas City from 2002 and was Manager of the Year in 2003, when a club expected to lose 100 games won 83. He was Dominican, from Monte Cristi, and his sons Tony Jr. and Francisco both played professionally. The 2003 ballot gave him two votes of 496.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	5	1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989
Gold Glove	4	1983, 1984, 1985, 1991
Player of the Week	1	1982
The Sporting News All-Star	1	1983

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1980	PIT	8	21	1	9	1	1	0	1	0	4	0	.429
1981	PIT	66	210	16	63	9	1	2	17	8	23	1	.300
1982	PIT	138	497	53	147	28	4	11	63	17	57	2	.296
1983	PIT	151	542	51	163	22	3	15	70	31	73	6	.301
1984	PIT	147	546	77	156	27	2	15	78	36	79	12	.286
1985	PIT	147	546	53	136	27	2	10	59	29	67	12	.249
1986	PIT	144	510	56	147	26	2	10	52	53	69	9	.288
1987	STL	116	384	40	82	13	4	5	44	36	54	6	.214
1988	STL	149	505	55	133	23	1	10	51	33	60	6	.263
1989	STL	141	424	36	110	17	2	4	37	35	33	5	.259
1990	BOS	143	491	62	129	19	1	7	56	43	71	8	.263
1991	BOS	141	464	45	107	23	2	5	48	37	53	8	.231
1992	BOS	133	410	39	99	21	1	1	38	24	61	3	.241
1993	BOS	126	304	20	55	11	0	4	19	25	46	1	.181
1994	CLE	40	112	18	33	8	1	2	10	9	11	0	.295
1995	CLE	91	263	25	69	15	0	5	28	14	44	1	.262
1996	CLE	67	174	14	34	4	0	1	27	15	25	0	.195
1997	CHW/HOU	40	86	6	15	4	0	0	10	10	16	0	.174
Career	—	1988	6489	667	1687	298	27	107	708	455	846	80	.260

On this day & linked events

1957

Born June 4, 1957

Monte Cristi, Monte Cristi, D.R.

1980

Major-league debut: Tony Peña

Tony Peña made a major-league debut on September 1, 1980.

1997

Final major-league game: Tony Peña

Tony Peña played a final major-league game on September 28, 1997.

Image: Ryan Leary, public domain