His 10th-floor Florida condo overlooks the Gulf of Mexico. On many nights, Carlos Pena cracks the curtains so he can see out when he awakens in the morning. The sun, the water ... oh, the sight of it all. So beautiful.

Yes, the view is quite different in 2007 for one of the game's greatest comeback stories.

Carlos Pena trails only Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder among MLB home run leaders. (AP)

Pena and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

"I think maybe you could have expected half of this," Rays manager Joe Maddon said of his gee-look-what-we-found slugger. "That free-agent signing, it's got to be considered the best in the game this year."

For their $800,000 investment, Pena already has provided the Rays with a club-record 40 home runs. His 112 RBI are within five of another club record, held by Jorge Cantu.

Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff, Greg Vaughn, Aubrey Huff ... go figure. All of the past Great Franchise Hopes in Tampa Bay history, and the dude rewriting the record book is a guy who, in the 12 months leading up to this season, had bounced from Detroit to the Yankees to Boston to Tampa Bay.

His view a year ago wasn't quite Gulf-worthy. Mired in Triple-A Columbus and wondering whether the bulk of his major-league days were behind him, Pena saw precious little sunshine anywhere he looked, including out the window.

"You know what, man? It was a parking lot," Pena said.

Perfect. Nine years in, and Pena's pro career appeared stuck in the concrete, anyway.

A first-round pick by Texas in 1998 (10th overall) and off to a promising start in the minors, Pena was shipped to Oakland before the 2002 season. The Athletics needed a replacement at first base for Jason Giambi, and chief headhunter Billy Beane thought Pena was the man.

He didn't even last half a season. Hitting .218 with just seven homers in 40 games, Oakland traded Pena and a player to be named later -- Jeremy Bonderman -- to Detroit in a three-way deal that netted the A's pitcher Ted Lilly.

Pena lasted the equivalent of three seasons in Detroit, had what appeared to be a career-year in 2004 by slamming 27 homers and collecting 82 RBI (while hitting .241 with a .338 on-base percentage and .472 slugging percentage) ... and then began the descent into oblivion.

An arbitration-eligible status that awarded him a $2.575 million salary in 2005. A .181 batting average -- second-lowest among AL players with at least 150 plate appearances -- on May 31 in '05, when Detroit optioned him to Triple-A Toledo. Not nearly enough bang for the buck, which led to the start of the Triple-A carousel, during which he made stops in Toledo, Columbus and Pawtucket before landing with Tampa Bay this spring.

Even then, it wasn't as if the Devil Rays knew what they had -- and Pena sure didn't show them much initially. The Rays' final cut of the spring, Pena had packed up and shipped out, already having driven the 90 minutes or so to his Orlando home when Greg Norton suddenly came up with a sore knee.

Matter of fact, Pena was sacked out on his couch when the emergency call came in from the Devil Rays summoning him back.

"Laying down, watching TV," he said. "I kept telling myself, 'Don't lose faith. Something good will happen.' I was watching movies, doing my best not to get down on myself."

From that, came this: Pena's 40 homers this season rank third in the majors, behind only Alex Rodriguez's 52 and Prince Fielder's 46. His .607 slugging percentage is third in the majors, and Pena is one of only three major leaguers -- along with A-Rod and Fielder -- to record at least 25 doubles and 35 homers this season.

"Biggest thing from spring training to now is he's using the middle of the field and his strike-zone knowledge," Maddon said. "He's cut down on his strikeouts and, as he has, his power has increased."

Maddon and hitting coach Steve Henderson preached going up the middle because when Pena wasn't striking out, he was rolling over too many pitches and turning them into easy ground balls to the right side of the infield.

"That's how I described it to him, telling him you've got to get away from the 3Us and 4-3s," Maddon said.

Little did the skipper realize what kind of beast Pena was about to unleash.

"I feel I've matured as a player, as a hitter and as a man," said Pena, 29. "I understand myself, and I understand myself as a player. This is an ongoing process. I don't think you ever get to the point where you say you understand it.

"But I'm better at keeping things simple, and I have an understanding of how to do that better, of what I can accomplish if I get out of my own way."

His amazing comeback story is right there with those of Cincinnati's Josh Hamilton, Oakland's Jack Cust and St. Louis' Rick Ankiel. He's certainly got the best numbers of the bunch.

Disturbing thing is, Ankiel's tale was knocked off course earlier this month when he was linked to Human Growth Hormone. And in these Elvis Presley times -- suspicious minds -- a player comes into question anytime he enjoys a mid-career resurrection as dramatic as Pena's.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about that," Pena said when he's asked about HGH, suspicion and the disillusionment of fans.

Then, smiling: "I've been at this for how many years, since '98. I'm so grateful I've been able to play in the major leagues and produce. People don't know the extra work you put in in the (batting) cage. All the winter balls you've been to.

"They might say a guy's come out of nowhere. Well, no, I didn't. This isn't out of nowhere. I've been to winter ball in five of the past seven years in the Dominican Republic. I live in Orlando. I've left my home for the purpose of bettering myself. I'm glad I can reap some success after I've put so much into it."

Pena is polite, extremely well-spoken and passionate.

Perhaps being a late bloomer simply runs in the family. His father, Felipe, earned a mechanical engineering degree in the Dominican Republic when he was in his 30s. Then, after the family moved to Massachusetts in 1992, Felipe earned a master's degree from Cambridge College when he was in his 50s.

"He's one of those guys who thinks you never stop learning," said Carlos, who spent time with his father last week when the Rays were in Boston, where Pena played for Northeastern University. "It never ends. I appreciate that about him. He's one of those guys who's always thinking about growing.

"The earliest experiences I can recall with my dad, he celebrated everything I did. It might be a foul ball. I told him this when we were having dinner the other night. I said, 'Dad, you would rave about a foul ball. How far it went, where it went into the stands. It made me feel like the greatest hitter in the world. You were being a great dad then.'"

It's a sweet story, and inspirational.

Not only has Pena resurrected his own career, he has helped the Devil Rays establish legitimacy in these waning days of another dead-end season.

They have gained 10 games on Baltimore in the AL East since Aug. 22 and are threatening to finish out of last place for only the second time in their 11-year history.

They started this week 15-8 since Aug. 24, tied for the second-best mark in the majors.

And since Aug. 24, the Rays ranked first in the majors in batting (.310), first in runs scored (166), first in homers (38) and first in slugging percentage (.528).

Pena has had plenty of help from Rookie of the Year candidate Delmon Young (.293, 12 homers, 87 RBI), knockout center fielder B.J. Upton (.308, 24, 81) and leadoff man Akinori Iwamura (.284, 7, 30), among others.

But there is no underestimating what he has done for his career, and for a young franchise still looking for traction.

"If he was doing it for any other team, it would be the biggest story in baseball," injured center fielder Rocco Baldelli said.

The Devil Rays can control Pena for one more year -- he's eligible for arbitration this winter before he becomes a free agent following the 2008 season. The long term looks problematical -- Scott Boras is his agent, and he's usually too rich for a club like Tampa Bay's blood -- but short-term, the view could not be more picturesque.

"This is a wonderful young man," Maddon said. "He's been tremendous in the clubhouse. He's a big part of what we want to look like in the future, on and off the field."