Peņa still hoping he has staying power

BALTIMORE -- The Red Sox have played a week's worth of games since Carlos Peña enjoyed what he called ``the most special moment of my whole entire career," the 10th-inning walkoff home run he hit at Fenway Park before family and friends Sept. 4.

Since then, Peña has had just one at-bat, a pinch-hit appearance last Friday night against the Royals in which he struck out. He also was used as a defensive replacement the last three games.

Peña started the first five games he played for the Red Sox -- a period that coincided with the absence of David Ortiz and Manny Ramírez -- but hasn't drawn a start since. He was on the bench again last night, Kevin Youkilis starting at first, and with just 18 games left, the Sox do not appear particularly eager to investigate whether Peña might be worth bringing back next year.

``Well, I'd evaluate everybody, [but] we can't let someone like Carlos play every day," a very noncommittal manager Terry Francona said when asked if this might be a window in which to evaluate Peña. ``We can't do that. You try to mix and match. Sometimes you have to look not only at what someone has done for a week but what they've done the whole season, things like that."

Peña, a free agent after the season, is only 28 and just two years removed from a season in which he was the Tigers' everyday first baseman and hit 27 home runs with 82 RBIs.

In a recent conversation, the Haverhill native and former Northeastern star said that he would love to come back.

``Of course, I think about it," he said. ``I try not to make it my focus, [but] believe me, I sit here and think how great it would be.

``I also understand the present is all I have. I want to enjoy every single moment. I don't know how long it's going to last, so I truly appreciate every moment I have in a Red Sox uniform. I'm not just doing my job, you know?

``Objectively looking at, I think I have the talent to help this ball club. I think I definitely do. I just understand it's totally out of my hands. Decisions are made outside the white lines. I can influence their thinking by playing well. All I can do is relax and enjoy the moment. [But] I do think about it. I wish it would be the case."

Peña said he has to fight the urge to try to do too much when given the chance.

``I'm not going to sit here and say, `Oh man, I don't feel anything, I'm a rock,' " he said. ``I've got a heart. I feel it. It was beating hard when I first stepped on the field with this uniform on. I can't deny it. So I can't sit here and say that.

``I do recognize I have to stay calm and try and help this team win when you have a chance. My role here right now, whatever it is -- I'm not the speediest guy, but if they need me to pinch run, I'll pinch run."

Peña reached a stage with the Tigers where he no longer talked with the media, but here he has reverted to be the engaging, thoughtful person that made him so well-liked during his Northeastern tenure as well as at earlier stops in the big leagues with Texas and Oakland.

And although it may run counter to the studied indifference displayed by many pro athletes, Peña makes no apology for the excitement he feels about playing for his hometown team.

``I don't even want to pretend that I'm somebody I'm not," he said. ``When I first got here, I was like a little kid, to be part of the Red Sox. I'm being real about that, and I don't mind saying that. I'm also professional, but if you don't love it, what is left?

``I'm glad I'm not like a rock."

Ramírez didn't play last night for the second straight game because he said his knee was sore. He missed 10 of 11 games, then played five straight before missing the last two. Asked if there has been any thought to shutting Ramírez down for the season, Francona said, ``If we have to. I'd rather not, but we could get to the point where the trainers say that's the right thing to do, but I haven't heard them say that yet. I think it comes down to what he can tolerate. We all know what it is, what he can tolerate. If it gets to a point in a little while, maybe that's something we need to talk about, but I don't think we're there yet." . . . Francona would not predict how long Tim Wakefield will go tonight, in his first start since July 17 after sustaining a stress fracture in his rib cage. ``I don't know," the manager said. ``We'll see. What I want him to do, whatever he pitches, come out of the game, and the only soreness we want him to have is that normal soreness from pitching, and not pitching for a long time. I don't want him to leave that game grabbing that side. I want him to go home in the offseason knowing he's OK. So whether it's three, four, seven innings, I want to make sure he's OK healthwise."

Francona announced that lefthander Lenny DiNardo, who has made two relief appearances since coming off the disabled list Aug. 31, will start tomorrow night, bumping Kevin Jarvis . . . Francona said the plan is for Matt Clement to throw off a mound when the team returns home next Tuesday, with the hope that he could see game action before the end of the season . . . Jonathan Papelbon has yet to throw a ball since being shut down with slippage in his shoulder joint . . . The Red Sox and American Red Cross collected 1,072 units of blood in Monday's ``Day of Remembrance" blood drive at Fenway Park, a record in New England for a single drive. Sox CEO Larry Lucchino and Gabe Kapler and Mark Loretta participated.

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