"Raw power is the ultimate catnip in baseball.

It's why Wily Mo Pena will have nine lives in the game.

The Mariners yesterday became the fifth baseball team to plunk into the middle of a major league lineup this hulking specimen with hands the size of bear paws, the physique of Lawrence Taylor and the power of Paul Bunyan.

As teams like the Reds from 2002-05, the Red Sox in 2006 and '07, the Nationals in 2007-08, and the Diamondbacks this year before releasing him have found out, Pena is the poster child of anybody who loves the home run.

"It's silly," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona yesterday. "Wily Mo's power is off the charts."

Called up from Triple-A Tacoma, where he was hitting .333 (17-for-51) with four home runs and four doubles and a 1.090 OPS in just 13 games, Pena replaced Justin Smoak (broken nose) in the Seattle lineup.

Watching him flick balls off the center field wall and bounce balls hard off seats — including the last row of the second-deck bleachers in left field — during batting practice, it was easy to be reminded of the pure and potent blend of pop that Pena possesses.

When the Red Sox traded away Bronson Arroyo for Pena in spring training, they were under the dual illusion that they had enough starting pitching and that Pena would figure out his power stroke with them. They were wrong on both counts, but Pena still had his moments with the Red Sox.

There was the Aug. 8, 2006, blast off Luke Hudson at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium that carried over and behind the left field bleachers, caroming off a concession stand set back in the concourse."