Aquiles Peña

Ramón Aquiles Peña Castro

• Born February 9, 1954 in Mao, Valverde Dominican Republic

Biographical Information

Aquiles Peña was a star amateur player in the Dominican Republic.

A speedy center fielder, Peña won amateur batting titles in the Dominican in three decades - .376 in 1979, .385 in 1984 and .476 in 1994. He led the league in steals five times, doing so in 1975, 1977, 1984, 1985 and 1988 and becoming the only amateur player to top 30 steals five times (through 2012). He also won one home run title.

He played for the Dominican national team numerous times. He hit .432 in the 1976 Amateur World Series and helped the Dominicans claim the Silver Medal in the 1979 Pan American Games and to a Bronze Medal in the 1981 Intercontinental Cup. He played for the Dominicans in the 1982 Amateur World Series. In the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games, he helped the Dominican entry win their only Gold Medal between 1963 and 2009, with the Cuban national team having won the prior four Golds and the following four.

Peña represented his homeland in the 1983 Pan American Games, 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games (Silver Medal) and 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games (Bronze). He also played for the Dominican national softball team. In 2012, he was elected to the Dominican Sports Hall of Fame; Juan Guzman was the other baseball player picked that year.

Sources

• Dominican Sports Hall of Fame
• Listin Diario
• Another bio of Pena