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Roberto Cesar Pena
San Diego Padres
Shortstop-Second Base
Born: April 17, 1937, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1965-1966; Philadelphia Phillies 1968; San Diego Padres 1969; Oakland Athletics 1970; Milwaukee Brewers 1970-1971
Died: July 23, 1982, Santiago, Dominican Republic (age 45)
Roberto Pena played sparingly with the Cubs for a few seasons, and in 1968 became the first major league Dominican-born player to play as a regular starting shortstop when he earned that job with the Phillies. After batting a career-high .260 in 138 games, Pena was left unprotected following the season and selected by the Padres in the 1968 expansion draft. He was the first second baseman in Padres franchise history, making 32 starts at second base, 21 starts at shortstop and 53 starts at shortstop throughout the year. On the move again following the season, Pena began the 1970 season with the Athletics before a trade in mid-May sent him to Milwaukee. He led all American League shortstops in fielding percentage in 1970 with a .979 mark. His final big league action came in 1971 as a super utility player for the Brewers. Pena appeared in 587 big league games overall, batting .245. He'd later serve as a minor league instructor and scout in the Brewers organization.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #198
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Padres Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
Pena was the 48th overall pick in the expansion draft, held on October 14, 1968. He appeared in 139 games for the Padres, batting .250 with four home runs and 30 RBIs. In his first start at shortstop on May 10th, Pena went 4 for 5 with a grand slam off Cardinals' pitcher Steve Carlton (#255). He played all four infield positions throughout the season, voicing that he'd prefer to play shortstop, his natural position. His time with the Padres ended on March 24, 1970 when Pena was traded to the Athletics for Ramon Webster (#618).
Phillies Career
On November 29, 1966, the Phillies drafted Pena from the Cubs in the annual minor league draft. He spent the entire 1967 season with the San Diego Padres, then the Phillies' top farm team. Pena began the 1968 season back in the minors before earning a promotion in late April when the Phillies decided shortstop Don Money (#454) could benefit from more time in the minors.
As the first Dominican-born everyday shortstop in the majors, Pena was second in the league in errors committed at the position with 32. Following the season, the Padres selected him as the 48th pick in the 1968 expansion draft, ending his brief time with the Phillies.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #549
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1965-1966, 1969-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1971 Topps #334
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 32 in the Beckett online database as of 11/24/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 121st of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me less than a dollar.
The Card / Padres Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Pena played in the Pirates' organization for five seasons, and at some point Topps took pictures of him wearing his Pirates gear. His 1965 and 1969 Topps card show him wearing a Pirates jersey. The back of the card mentions his league leading fielding efforts in 1967 while playing for the minor league version of the San Diego Padres. Pena, who appeared in 138 games with the Phillies in 1968, is one of the few players to have appeared in that many games with the club and never appeared on a Phillies baseball card.
Accuracy Index: Pena drops to -8 for the Pirates jersey (-5) and logo-less hat (-3).
1969 Season
Pena was the 48th overall pick in the expansion draft, held on October 14, 1968. He appeared in 139 games for the Padres, batting .250 with four home runs and 30 RBIs. In his first start at shortstop on May 10th, Pena went 4 for 5 with a grand slam off Cardinals' pitcher Steve Carlton (#255). He played all four infield positions throughout the season, voicing that he'd prefer to play shortstop, his natural position. His time with the Padres ended on March 24, 1970 when Pena was traded to the Athletics for Ramon Webster (#618).
On November 29, 1966, the Phillies drafted Pena from the Cubs in the annual minor league draft. He spent the entire 1967 season with the San Diego Padres, then the Phillies' top farm team. Pena began the 1968 season back in the minors before earning a promotion in late April when the Phillies decided shortstop Don Money (#454) could benefit from more time in the minors.
As the first Dominican-born everyday shortstop in the majors, Pena was second in the league in errors committed at the position with 32. Following the season, the Padres selected him as the 48th pick in the 1968 expansion draft, ending his brief time with the Phillies.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #549
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1965-1966, 1969-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1971 Topps #334
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 32 in the Beckett online database as of 11/24/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR
The Phillies were high on Don Money (and Larry Hisle) going into Spring Training 1968. After a few weeks into the regular season, they sent Money down and recalled Pena. But, it was Bobby Wine who took over the starting SS job. Only after Wine injured his back (and missed the rest of the season) did Pena become the starter. I've often wondered why they didn't give Gary Sutherland a shot at the job. As a rookie in 1967, he platooned at shortstop and left field for most of the season, but in '68 Sutherland was strictly a bench player.
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