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Award Caps Off Special Year For Longoria

Tribune photo by JOSEPH BROWN III

Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria led all rookies with 27 home runs and a .531 slugging percentage.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2008

Updated: 11/11/2008 01:53 am

The first day Evan Longoria walked into spring training last February with the Tampa Bay Rays, there was a special quality about him.

He was confident without being cocky. He had the swagger of a champion and the air of someone who had played in the major leagues for 10 years, even though at the time he had never played a game. And when he did start to really play, it only affirmed what everyone already knew.

So it was hardly surprising when the news came Monday that Longoria had been named the American League Rookie of the Year.

Although Longoria didn't make the Rays out of spring training, he came on to hit 27 home runs and drive in 85 - despite missing five weeks because of a broken wrist. He was as good at fielding his third base position as he was with the bat, amassing a highlights reel-worth of diving stops and off-balance throws that saved runs and won games.

"Sometimes as his teammate you just became his fan," said Rays first baseman Carlos Pena, who was on the receiving end for many of those throws.

Longoria became only the seventh AL rookie since the award was first given in 1949 to be selected unanimously by voters of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He is at the top of any list of reasons why the Rays went to the World Series this season after 10 years of futility.

"It's so special. It's tough to put into words," Longoria said on a nationwide conference call after the announcement. "Obviously I appreciate every vote - every player who recognized me and every writer who thought I was No. 1."

The Rays have never had a player quite like this. Sometimes he was so self-assured and controlled, you wondered if he was able to enjoy the ride. He says he did.

"I definitely felt some awe most of the time this year," he said. "I tried to keep it to myself, not so much making it to the big leagues but the hard part is staying there."

He is in good company with others who were unanimous rookie winners - among them Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. It just shows the type of ability he has and what the expectations are in the future.

"This is where as a baseball player I wanted to be, but if I told you two years ago I knew I'd be in this situation I'd be lying," Longoria said.

The Rays already have taken an extreme step to make sure he stays in Tampa Bay. At age 23, he has the security of a contract that, with options, runs through 2016 and is worth up to $44 million. He signed that contract after spending just six days in the majors. No one questions the move.

"It looked like he owned that territory around third base," Pena said. "At the same time, he was very appreciative and respectful of the opportunity to play there at the big-league level. From my perspective, he has a perfect combination of skills and a very real approach as a person.

"The sky is the limit for him. He can be as good as you can possibly imagine and it wouldn't be a surprise, whatever he achieves. And the best news is, we have a lot of Evan Longoria to watch in the future."

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