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Rays sending at least 4 players to All-Star Game

Associated Press file photo

The Rays Evan Longoria led the fan voting at third base beating bigger names Michael Young and Alex Rodriguez.

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: July 5, 2009

Updated: 07/05/2009 05:20 pm

ARLINGTON, Texas - For so many years, Tampa Bay only had a player in the All-Star Game because the rules demanded it.

Nine times in the first 10 years, the then-Devil Rays had only one player picked for the Midsummer Classic, and most of the time there really was no justification to argue for more.

Everyone knows now that everything has changed for this franchise in the last year and a half, and Sunday's announcement of this year's All-Star selections reinforced that point. At least four Rays players will be joining American League manager Joe Maddon and his coaching staff in the July 14 game in St. Louis, with three of them earning their spot based on the respect of either fans around the country or their peers.

Evan Longoria will be the first Tampa Bay player to start an All-Star Game after winning the fan vote at third base in a landslide. Jason Bartlett and Carl Crawford made the team as reserves, voted in by their fellow players. And Ben Zobrist was one of Maddon's picks to fill out the roster.

In addition, Carlos Pena is one of five players vying for the final spot on the AL team in fan voting.

No matter what happens with his candidacy, Tampa Bay will have a higher profile than ever before at the midseason showcase.

"I think it's a good day for the Rays, just as it is right now," Pena said. "I think Rays fans should be very proud of our representation on the All-Star team - it's quite amazing and just shows how far we've come. I think we should all be very proud of that."

There was ample reason for pride in the Rays' clubhouse Sunday afternoon, even among those who weren't selected. The players who have been around the organization for a while don't have to be reminded how much the perception of the franchise has changed in the wake of the Rays' run to the World Series last year, and everyone was pleased to see deserving players rewarded for their work.

Longoria was an easy selection at third, with his impressive .925 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) and 63 RBIs. He'll be an All-Star for the second time in as many big-league seasons.

"Obviously, with the caliber of third basemen that there are in the American League, to be the leading vote-getter is just a tremendous honor," he said.

For both Bartlett and Zobrist, their first All-Star selections were a testament to how far they have come in a short period of time.

Certainly, the Twins couldn't have imagined when they dealt Bartlett to the Rays two winters ago that he would reach the level he has attained this year so quickly.

"It's always been a dream," Bartlett said. "I texted my brother last night, who ever would have thought I'd go from playing Wiffle Ball in my front yard to being a Major League All-Star?"

Zobrist couldn't get regular at-bats with the Rays even at the beginning of this season, settling into everyday starts only when Akinori Iwamura was injured in late May. But considering Zobrist stands second to Minnesota's Joe Mauer in OPS on top of his 16 homers, Maddon didn't see any way not to pick him and told Zobrist as much Saturday night.

"That feels good for me to know that he didn't just pick me because he felt like he had to play favorites with his players," Zobrist said. "He genuinely looked at everything and thought I was an All-Star."

Crawford already had that covered after serving as the team's lone representative in 2004 and 2007, but as he said Sunday, it never gets old.

"I was always there by myself, so now when the little cliques start to form at the All-Star Game, I'll have somebody to talk to this time," Crawford said. "It's nice to see I'm not the only person going."

And he more than any other player understands how much it means for the Rays to be held in such high esteem around the game - a notion echoed Sunday by the man who engineered the turnaround, principal owner Stuart Sternberg.

"We were at the sport's pinnacle last October and now get to show our stuff at baseball's second-largest event," Sternberg said Sunday in an e-mail to the Tribune. "To have a number of our players continue to receive national recognition is a testament to each of them as well as the organization. Baseball fans throughout the country appreciate the heart and talent of the Rays, and that is quite rewarding."

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