Evan Longoria

Evan Michael Longoria is a professional baseball player currently signed as a third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born on October 7, 1985 in Downey, California.

Longoria was selected as the third overall pick by the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2006 MLB Draft. After spending time with Triple-A Durham in the minor league system, Longoria made his Major League debut on April 12, 2008. He replaced an injured Willy Aybar on the 40-man roster and went 1 for 3 with an RBI on his debut night.

Longoria had a successful debut season in 2008, earning a spot in the 2008 MLB All-Star game. He won the AL Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the fourth third baseman to win the award, as well as TSN's AL Rookie of the Year Award. He was also named to the Topps Rookie All-Star Team, as the third baseman.

In April 2009, Longoria batted in his 100th career RBI in his 135th game, the 3rd fastest after Ryan Braun (118 games) and Albert Pujols (131 games). He was voted to his second MLB All Star game on July 5, 2009. After the season, he was awarded the 2009 AL Gold Glove Award at third base, and a 2009 AL Silver Slugger Award for third base.

Longoria attended St. John Bosco High School. He was a two-year letterman in baseball and as a senior was a first team All-Sierra League selection. Longoria did not receive any scholarship offers to play college baseball.

College Career

After high school, Longoria attended Rio Hondo Community College, where he played shortstop. In his freshman season, Longoria earned first-team All-State honors, and was offered a scholarship by Long Beach State. He transferred to Long Beach for his sophomore year and hit .320, earning All-Conference honors. Because Long Beach State already had an established shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki (who now plays with the Colorado Rockies), Longoria played third base.

Following a successful MVP summer in the Cape Cod League with the Chatham A's where he played second base, Longoria shared 2006 Big West Player of the Year honors (with Justin Turner) during his junior year at Long Beach State. He played for the Wallbanger under the manager Andrew Takayoshi. When he first started attending Long Beach State, he majored in kinesiology. However, he switched to the department of Criminal Justice because it was somewhat less time-consuming and, therefore, would not interfere with the baseball schedule as much.


Professional Career

Longoria was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays with the third overall pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. Longoria, called the "best pure hitter" among college players in the 2006 draft class by Baseball America, was given a $3 million signing bonus.

2008

On April 12, 2008, the Rays placed Willy Aybar on the disabled list and called up Longoria from Triple-A Durham to replace him on the major league roster and on the 40-man roster. Longoria made his major league debut that night going 1 for 3 with an RBI.

Longoria hit his first career home run on April 14, against the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field. He had his first career two-homer game on May 24, and drove in six runs as the Rays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 11-4. Both of the homers came off the Orioles' Steve Trachsel, a Long Beach State alumnus. On July 19, 2008, Longoria hit his first career grand slam off Toronto's Roy Halladay in the fifth inning as part of a 6-4 winning effort.

On April 18, the Rays signed Longoria to a six-year, $17.5 million contract with options for 2014, 2015 and 2016. The first six years of the contract cover his arbitration years, with three more years added by team options. If the team exercises its one-year option for 2014, and then its two-year option for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, the deal could be worth up to $44 million.

On July 10, Longoria won the 2008 All-Star game AL Final Fan vote over outfielder Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox, outfielder Jose Guillen of the Kansas City Royals, first baseman Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees, and second baseman Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles. Longoria went 1-4 in the game and hit a game-tying ground-rule double in the bottom of the eighth inning. On August 11, Longoria was placed on the disabled list with a fractured wrist.

On September 18, Longoria had his first three home run game against the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. On September 20, Longoria caught the game-ending out, from Joe Mauer in foul territory as the Rays clinched their first playoff spot in team history.

Longoria has used "I'm Broken" by Pantera and currently is using "Down and Out" by Tantric as his at-bat music.

On October 2, in the first postseason game for both Longoria and Tampa Bay, Longoria hit two home runs in his first two at-bats to help lead the Rays past the Chicago White Sox 6-4. Longoria is the first rookie and second player overall to homer in his first two postseason at bats. The first to do so was Longoria's hitting coach at Triple-A Durham, Gary Gaetti, who had his historic effort with the Minnesota Twins in 1987.

On October 14, 2008, Longoria set the rookie mark for most home runs (4) hit in a postseason series as a rookie, breaking Miguel Cabrera's record set in 2003.

After the 2008 season, Longoria was honored with The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award for the American League, as well as the American League Rookie of the Year Award. He became the fourth third baseman to win the award. He also became the sixth player and the first since Nomar Garciaparra in 1997 to win a Rookie of the Year Award unanimously. He was also named the third baseman on the Topps Rookie All-Star Team.


2009

In April, Longoria knocked in his 100th career RBI, in his 135th game. The only then-active players to get to 100 RBIs more quickly were Ryan Braun (118 games) and Albert Pujols (131 games). At the end of April, Longoria became the first player in Rays franchise history to be named the AL Player of the Month. He had also won two of the four Player of the Week awards for the month of April. Longoria drove in 131 runs in his first 162 games in the majors, the third-highest total through May 2009 of any active player, 3 RBIs behind Ryan Braun, and 2 RBIs behind Pujols. Longoria was selected by the fans to start the 2009 MLB All Star Game on July 5, 2009. Due to a finger injury, he was kept out of the lineup.

Longoria was given the American League Gold Glove Award for his position on November 10. Two days later, he was given a Silver Slugger Award.