"Sometimes a a baseball player actually can be too cerebral to become a superstar.

After all, the nation's pastime is really a simple game of hitting, throwing and fielding, none of which takes a master's from MIT.

"You can be too analytical to the detriment of yourself," said Carlos Pena, who may not have the MIT master's but did maintain a 3.33 grade-point average while studying engineering at Northeastern University. "I've learned over the years that the wisest men are the ones who have the least amount of things in their heads."

Pena is the Cubs' new first baseman, one with a fascinating life story that began in the Dominican Republic, went through Massachusetts and Ohio and now is teetering on the brink of baseball existence."