TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Longoria Leads Voting, But He's Not Sweating It

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 10, 2008

NEW YORK - Evan Longoria should know shortly before tonight's game whether he will be returning to Yankee Stadium for next week's All-Star Game as the final addition to the American League roster.

Voting concludes at 5 p.m. today, and Longoria continued to lead the five-man race as of mid-afternoon Wednesday, with Jermaine Dye of the White Sox second and the Yankees' Jason Giambi third.

"It's exciting, but it's something that I'm really not worried about," Longoria said. "If it happens, it happens, and it'll definitely be a dream come true and I'll be excited to be here and all that. But if not, I've got plans to go back to the West Coast and just hang out and be with friends and family."

A little mental break might not be a bad thing at this point. Longoria probably did more interviews than any other Ray during the two-day visit to New York, and he picked up yet another honor before he left town.

Longoria on Wednesday was named the AL Rookie of the Month for June after hitting .300 with 11 doubles, eight homers and 19 RBIs last month. He's the third Rays player to earn Rookie of the Month accolades, joining Rocco Baldelli (April and May 2003) and Damon Hollins (May 2005).

The latest award comes two weeks after Longoria was named AL Player of the Week.

Is all of the attention starting to become overwhelming to the third baseman? Longoria doesn't think so.

"I do a good job of kind of blocking it out," he said. "I really am focused on what's going on with the day-to-day stuff, and I've gotten so deep into my routine that that's really all I worry about is getting to the field and doing what I need to do to get ready for the game."

UP IN THE AIR: Manager Joe Maddon said he hasn't finalized the Rays' starting rotation coming out of the All-Star break, in part because of uncertainty over whether Scott Kazmir will pitch in the All-Star Game.

Kazmir starts Sunday at Cleveland, and he normally would throw a side session Tuesday, but Maddon didn't sound terribly enthusiastic about his ace doing that work in the charged Yankee Stadium environment.

"We'll see how it goes on Sunday," Maddon said. "If he went deep into the game on Sunday, I would be maybe not as thrilled about it."

Maddon has said previously that he would prefer to keep Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza bunched together in the second-half rotation, in one alignment or another.

ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT: Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner, a Tampa resident, had some kind words for the Rays on Wednesday during a visit to Yankee Stadium.

"They're just a great team," Steinbrenner told The Associated Press. "They're going to be in there until the end, I'm sure, and for many years to come. We've got another good rival in the division to worry about every year."

REHAB WATCH: SS Jason Bartlett (sprained right knee) said he doesn't expect to go out on a rehab assignment before coming off the disabled list - hopefully on the first day after the All-Star break.

Bartlett did some running drills in the outfield at Yankee Stadium hours before Wednesday's game and will continue to work out with the team through the weekend. He'll spend the All-Star break in St. Petersburg resting, but he doesn't believe he needs to see live pitching before returning.

"Carl Crawford just said, 'Man, you haven't been swinging - how are you going to hit when you get back?'" Bartlett said. "I said, 'Man, that's when I rake, when I don't swing that much.' Hopefully I'll just take some BP and be good to go."

MORE REHAB: RHP Al Reyes (shoulder tendinitis) felt fine after an 11-pitch inning Tuesday night for Vero Beach, according to Maddon. Reyes, who averaged 85 mph during the outing, is slated for another inning tonight.

Marc Lancaster

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT