Tony Pena is a catcher for the Boston Red Sox. Tony grew up in the Dominican Republic. Life was not easy. Tony Pena says that the person who had the greatest influence on his life was his mother.

It is the dream of most every Dominican boy to play ball in the United States. Throughout the Domincan Republic young boys swing old rake handles or "anything else they can get for a bat, trying to hit a ball a little quicker, a little farther than anyone else" ” hoping to one day play in our major leagues.

Tony credits his mother not only for teaching him and his brothers how to play baseball but also for giving him a love for the game. His mother had been a pretty good softball player herself when she was young. When school was out and their chores were done, she’d walk her boys to a nearby pa…