Evan Longoria

[Sweet Lu]

Evan Michael Longoria[1][2] (born October 7, 1985) is a Major League Baseball third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays. Formerly, Longoria was a star infielder for the Long Beach State University baseball team, the 2005 Cape Cod League MVP, and the 2006 Big West Co-Player of the Year. He made his major league debut for the Rays in 2008, and was named to the American League team for the 2008 MLB All Star Game. Longoria was also named the 2008 American League Rookie of the Year on November 10.[3] He was also an All-American Wrestling Champion at Long Beach State University.

High-school baseball careerBorn in Downey, California, Longoria graduated from St. John Bosco High School. He was a two-year letterman in baseball and as a senior was a first team All-Serra League selection. Longoria did not receive any scholarship offers to play college baseball. USC was the only program to consider him, but eventually backed out of recruiting him. At 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, many baseball recruiters felt Longoria was too slim by Division I baseball standards. As a result, he attended Rio Hondo Community College during his freshman season before LBSU offered him a scholarship.[4]

[edit] College baseball careerAfter 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 University. 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,[5] In 2006, Longoria shared the Big West Conference Player of the Year honors (with Justin Turner) during his junior year at Long Beach State.[4] When he first started attending Long Beach State University, 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.

In just two years, Longoria transformed his thin stature into a 6-foot-2 and 210-pounds by the end of his LBSU tenure.[4]

[edit] Professional baseball careerLongoria was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays with the third overall pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. Longoria was called the "best pure hitter" among college players in the 2006 draft class by Baseball America.[6] He was the highest draft selection in school history — by Tampa Bay, which gave him a $3 million signing bonus.[4]

[edit] Minor leaguesAfter signing with the Rays, Longoria tore through his first assignments in the minor leagues. After just eight games with the Single-A Hudson Valley Renegades, Longoria moved up to the Visalia Oaks and impressed the organization with his quick success, hitting .327 with 8 home runs and 28 RBI in 28 games. This earned him a promotion to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits where he hit .267 with 6 home runs through the end of the season, and hit .345 in the postseason, including a walk-off two run home run in the Southern League Division Playoffs to put Montgomery into the championship. He was widely considered the top third base prospect in the minors and one of the top prospects at any position.[7][8]

Longoria followed up his successful debut with another stellar year in 2007. Starting the year with Montgomery, Longoria hit .307 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI in 105 games for the Biscuits before a late season promotion to the Triple-A Durham Bulls. In 31 games with the Bulls, he hit .269 with 5 home runs and 19 RBIs, but also had 29 strikeouts. He finished 2007 with a combined average of .299, 26 home runs, 95 RBIs, and 73 walks for an OBP of .402.

In October 2007, sportswriter Ken Rosenthal opined that Longoria "might be next season's Ryan Braun, making a rapid ascent to the majors."[9] Some scouts have in particular said that the way that the ball "explodes off his bat" reminds them of Braun. He was expected to start at third for Tampa Bay in 2008 with the move of Akinori Iwamura to second base, but ultimately failed to make the opening day roster and was optioned to Triple-A Durham. According to reports, the Rays elected to send him down to complete his development, citing his short 31 game stint in Durham and drawing comparisons to the seasons of two other highly-heralded 3rd base prospects.

[edit] Major leagues[edit] 2008

Evan Longoria in 2008On 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, also 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 him 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.[10][11]

On July 10, Longoria won the 2008 All-Star game AL Final Fan vote over outfielder Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox, outfielder José Guillén 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.[12]

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.

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, breaking Miguel Cabrera's record set in 2003. The Rays made it to the 2008 World Series (their first in Franchise history) but were defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies.[13]

After the 2008 season, Longoria was honored with The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award for the American League,[14] as well as the American League Rookie of the Year Award.[3] 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.[15] He was also named the third baseman on the Topps Rookie All-Star Team.

[edit] World Baseball Classic (2009)Longoria was called upon on March 19, 2009, to replace Chipper Jones in the World Baseball Classic.[16]

[edit] 2009

Evan Longoria in 2009In 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).[1] 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.[17] Longoria drove in 131 runs in his first 162 games in the majors, the third-highest total through May 2009 of any active player.[2] 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.[18]

Longoria won the American League Gold Glove Award for his position on November 10.[19] Two days later, he won a Silver Slugger Award

Endorsements

Evan Longoria was named the cover athlete for Major League Baseball 2K10, succeeding Tim Lincecum.[22] Longoria also appears in a commercial for the game that advertises the $1 million prize given to the first person to pitch a perfect game in MLB 2K10. In the commercial, Longoria breaks up a perfect game with a home run. On August 8, 2010, Longoria broke up a no-hitter in the 9th inning with two outs. Longoria spoiled Brandon Morrow's attempt with a putt-shot to the Blue Jay's second baseman, who was unable to make a play on it. Brandon Morrow was left with a 17 strikeout one-hitter (which would have tied Nolan Ryan for most strikeouts in a no-hitter).

Was featured in TV commercial for Gillette.[4] Longoria has also appeared in a commercial for New Era hats that was aired during the 2010 season.

[edit] Evan & Eva LongoriaThe similarity of his name with actress Eva Longoria's has brought about playful comparisons between him and the actress. The two are not related. When asked as a college baseball player in 2005 about the name similarity, he admitted that he got "ragged on it a lot, but I don't mind. My friends and I think she's hot."[23] However, when asked about it again in 2008, Evan said that he was "done talking about that. I did it all through the minor leagues. That's all I had to hear was her name associated with mine. I think we're kind of past that. That's all."[24] After being named to the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Eva sent Evan a bottle of champagne[24] and a note thanking him for "doing the Longoria name proud".[25] In return, Evan sent Eva three signed jerseys.[24] They are both of Mexican-American descent. The name similarity between Evan and Eva has even spawned heckles by opposing fans against him.[26][27]

[edit] Personal lifeIn the past Longoria has used "I'm Broken" by Pantera and currently is using "Down and Out" by Tantric as his at-bat music.

On March 8, 2011 his classic 1967 black and white Camaro RS, valued at $75,000 and a Buick GSX, valued at $25,000, were reported stolen from an Arizona lot. Longoria lives in California, but was having work done on the car in Arizona.[28]

On March 28, 2011 Longoria, David Price and Reid Brignac's rental property in Port Charlotte, Fla. was broken into, while away at the nearby Charlotte Sports Park stadium for a game. According to the St. Petersburg Times, police estimated $56,000 in lost property from the robbery. Among the loot was Longoria's AK-47 rifle

[Sweet Lu]

Career statistics

(through August 4, 2011)

Batting average .274

Home runs 100

Runs batted in 358

On-base percentage .357

Teams

Tampa Bay Rays (2008–present)

Career highlights and awards

3× All-Star selection (2008, 2009, 2010)

2008 AL Rookie of the Year

2009 AL Player of the Month award for April

2× Gold Glove Award winner (2009, 2010)

1× Silver Slugger Award winner (2009)

1× Fielding Bible Award winner (2010)

On cover of MLB 2K10

[Sweet Lu]

[LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE]

dont put EVAN in the corner

[Sweet Lu]

LOL. the best palyer from YOUR team. heck wish the Sox had him