News
Relief effort hits close to home for Pena
Slugger was in Dominican Republic when earthquake hit
By Bill Chastain / MLB.com
01/18/10 6:40 PM EST
ST. PETERSBURG -- Carlos Pena's vacation to the Dominican Republic had been idyllic.The Rays first baseman, his wife, Pamela, and their 4-year-old daughter, Isabella, had traveled south to Santo Domingo to spend Christmas and New Year's among friends and family. Because Pena was having some excellent offseason workouts and they were having so much fun as a family, they decided to extend their vacation.
Had the Pena family flown back to the United States as originally planned, they would have been wheels up on Jan. 11. Instead, Pena found himself at the gym last Tuesday. He'd just finished his workout on the fourth floor and was standing at the protein bar waiting for his shake to be made when terror struck.
"All of a sudden the whole building started swaying from left to right," Pena said. "As I'm waiting, the whole entire thing is moving left and right. I'm like, 'What is going on?'"
For over a minute, Pena experienced the scare of a lifetime.
"It was the weirdest helpless feeling, immediately," Pena said. "You spend the first five seconds not knowing what's going on. After that you know it's an earthquake."
Further west on the island with the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south, the earthquake Pena felt delivered destruction to Haiti. Initially, Pena had no idea about what had happened in Haiti. Instead he had to deal with his own situation. Survival instincts kicked in and his first priority was to gather his family while tsunami warnings rang up and down the southern tip of the Dominican Republic. Pena took the warnings seriously, which isn't necessarily always the case when disasters are forewarned. He was afraid for his own safety and his family's.
"Very much so," Pena said. "What happens, I think as humans, as a population, we ignore those warnings. And I think it's a little bit of ignorance and a little bit of arrogance at that point. But I didn't do that. I'm like I'm not going to do that and blow it off."
Pena said he surprised himself when he "kind of calmed down." And a plan formed. First he and the friend he worked out with gathered Pena's mother-in-law, who also was working out at the gym. Both Pena and his friend then began phoning, sending text messages, and e-mailing to try and locate their family members and to make sure they were safe while they struggled to reach them.
Pamela and Isabella were at different locations, and both were safe. Pena's instructions to his wife, and Isabella's aunt, who had taken Isabella to her cousin's birthday, were to be cautious with a tsunami looming -- even if it meant parking the car and heading for the top floor of a tall building. Pena was prepared to follow his own advice as well.
"I felt when this emergency situation hit, I was able to calm down enough to get my family together," Pena said. "But that whole entire process it probably took me from the beginning of the earthquake until we were together like 45 minutes."
Only when Pena's family was safely together did he begin to learn about what had transpired further west on the same island.
"It was the weirdest thing," Pena said. "It was very unpleasant. I would never want to go through that again and wouldn't wish it on anyone. But I was grateful there wasn't any major catastrophe in my country.
"But I'm devastated about what happened to Haiti and what could have happened to our country. It's so hard to think we're that close, on the same island. So much devastation on one side and we're so fortunate we didn't."
Pena is still trying to come to terms with why Haiti got floored and not the Dominican Republic. He estimated that the distance from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince is about the equivalent to a drive from his home in Orlando to where the Rays conduct Spring Training in Port Charlotte, Fla.
"I think that was the biggest point of it, that [the earthquake] hit just miles left of us," Pena said. "And what stopped it from hitting just a few miles east? It's something that I don't understand. I think that's why that night I was extremely upset. ... Next door our neighboring country was going through its worst day in history."
Pena and his family flew back to the United States on Sunday, but not before they did what they could for the relief effort by helping to gather supplies with his church. The entire experience has made him proud of his countrymen for the way they have rallied to help their neighbors, even though historically the two countries have had their differences.
"When things like this happen we realize we are all human," Pena said. "And we're all made out of flesh and bones. Regardless of the color of our skin, of our social class, we're exactly the same. Whether you're rich or poor, something like this happens, you understand the money's not going to help you escape such a catastrophe, or the color of your skin is not going to do it. For me that is like irrelevant. Obviously, we share an island."
Pena wants to continue his efforts to help Haiti and said he was happy that the Rays are getting behind the cause. The Rays announced Monday they will contribute proceeds from the Tampa Bay Rays 2010 Fan Fest, presented by MetroPCS, to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund and Save the Children. In addition, the Rays and the Rays Baseball Foundation will make donations totaling more than $50,000 to the two relief funds, including $15,000 from Pena.
Pena will also take part in a telethon by the local ABC affiliate, Channel 28, which will take place Tuesday night from 5-8 p.m. ET.
"It's rough over there now," Pena said. "It's bad."
Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
