Wily Mo Pena is back, reportedly signs minor league deal with Indians
Here’s an item from the good news department: Wily Mo Pena, hitter of enormous home runs, has come back to play baseball in the United States. He’s reportedly been signed to a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians, which Jon Heyman of FRS reported could be worth $700,000 if he makes it to the majors.
Pena, who turned 35 on January 23, spent 2012-2015 playing in Japan, where he suited up for three different teams: the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Orix Buffaloes, and the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Pena had some great seasons in Japan. He hit .280/.339/.490 with the Hawks in 2012, and smashed 21 home runs. With the Buffaloes in 2014, he hit 32 homers and put up a .255/.344/.486 triple slash. Over his four seasons in Japan, Pena hit .264/.355/.460 with 71 home runs.
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Before his stint in Japan, Pena played eight total years in the majors for five teams. He spent the most time with the Reds, and hit 51 of his 84 MLB homers with them. His time in the majors was up and down, though. In his last year in the majors in 2011, he hit .204/.250/.416 for two different teams.
But don’t think about Pena’s bad 2011. Think about some of the ridiculous home runs the man has hit! Like the one at the top of this post, which is an absolutely enormous grand slam from 2007. And when he played for the Orix Buffaloes in 2014, he hit a 492-foot dinger off the ceiling of the Osaka Dome that was truly majestic.
Pena is also the owner of one of the longest home runs in the history of Great American Ballpark. As a member of the Reds on April 17, 2005, he smashed a 498-foot homer off Brandon Duckworth (remember him?) of the Houston Astros.
Welcome home, Wily Mo. We’ve missed you.
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