TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

All-Star Battery For Rays

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 7, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - ST. PETERSBURG - The Rays have overcome quite a bit to reach the level they have this season, and the same can be said for the two players who will represent them in the All-Star Game.

Scott Kazmir didn't make his first start of the season until May 4 after opening the year on the disabled list with a strained elbow, but has been good enough since then to be voted onto the American League team by his fellow players.

Dioner Navarro was essentially the least effective regular player in all of baseball during the first half of last season, but had a strong second half and buckled down during the winter in hopes of erasing the ugliness of those three months last year. He has done exactly that, and was rewarded with one of AL manager Terry Francona's selections to the Midsummer Classic.

"Earned and well-deserved," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after his team's representatives were unveiled Sunday.

And the Rays might not be done yet. Evan Longoria is among five players vying for the final spot on the AL roster in voting on MLB.com that began Sunday afternoon and runs through Thursday.

However that turns out, the Rays will be rewarded for their best season ever by having at least two players at the All-Star Game for the first time. Tampa Bay had two players selected in 1999, Jose Canseco and Roberto Hernandez, but a back injury kept Canseco from attending the game.

Nothing would keep Kazmir and Navarro from soaking in the festivities at Yankee Stadium next week, especially considering both players' ties to New York run deep. Kazmir, of course, was a highly touted Mets prospect before being dealt to Tampa Bay four years ago, and Navarro signed with the Yankees out of his native Venezuela as a 16-year-old in 2000 before making his big-league debut with New York in 2004.

"I started my career with the Yankees and going back there as an All-Star now, it means a lot to me and I know it means a lot for my family, too," Navarro said. "My wife and my wife's family, they're all from the Bronx, so it's going to be a full house for me that day and hopefully we get to enjoy it."

The experience can't help but be sweet for Navarro. As Maddon playfully reminded his catcher before Sunday's game when telling him he had made the All-Star team, there was hardly a home game that passed the first three months of last season that didn't see the slumping Navarro catch some abuse from the fans.

Deservedly so. Heading into the 2007 All-Star break, Navarro's .177 batting average was 20 points worse than any other American League player with at least 225 plate appearances. Only one major-leaguer, teammate Akinori Iwamura, had fewer RBIs than Navarro's 13, and nobody with as much playing time had scored fewer than his 16 runs.

But Maddon kept Navarro in the lineup and the catcher responded, hitting .285 with eight homers and 31 RBIs in the second half before embarking upon an offseason conditioning program that saw him report to spring training in noticeably better shape. Navarro's hitting and defense have kept improving this season, and he is beginning to draw recognition in the clubhouse for his leadership.

"He's our backbone," starter James Shields said Sunday.

"The guy is a great individual, a great teammate, a great person to be around, and I'm just extremely happy for him," said Kazmir. "He really deserved this."

The same could be said for Kazmir, who earned his second All-Star nod. The lefty was the AL's Pitcher of the Month in May after going 5-1 with a 1.22 ERA in his first six starts of the season. That run cemented Kazmir's reputation as one of the game's top pitchers, and he was pleased to be recognized by his fellow players.

"That was a big thing, just to know that your peers really respect your game and voted you in like that," Kazmir said. "That means the most to me."

The voting isn't finished yet. Kazmir and Navarro, along with everyone else in the organization, plan to spend some time stuffing the ballot box for Longoria in the coming days.

The rookie third baseman blasted his team-leading 16th home run Sunday and is hitting .418 with seven doubles, five homers and 17 RBIs in the last 13 games, giving him a nice closing argument to take the final All-Star spot over Jason Giambi, Jermaine Dye, Brian Roberts and Jose Guillen.

Shortly after the Rays' win Sunday, Longoria said he hadn't cast any votes yet.

"But I'm sure my mom has," he said. "She's probably online now and been voting for the last hour."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT