After 10 years, 1,435 regular-season games and 30 postseason games, the most storied career in the very young history of the Rays franchise is no more. Evan Longoria has been a fixture with the Rays since 2008, when they finally shed the Devil Rays name and all the stigma that was attached to it in terms of on-field performance.
Longoria arrived in 2008 and while he wasn't the sole reason for the turnaround, he had a big hand in it.
The 2007 Devil Rays were 66-96, finishing with the worst record in the majors. It wasn't all too surprising. That's what they did. They had finished last in nine of their 10 years, going 70-92 and coming in fourth in their best season.
In 2008, the Rays went 97-65, good for the second-best AL record. They would win the AL pennant. Just like that. Again, it wasn't all Longoria, but he was an All-Star and won AL Rookie of the Year after hitting .272/.343/.531 with 31 doubles, 27 homers and 85 RBI.
In his time with the Rays, Longoria would make three All-Star teams, win three Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger. He finished in the top 10 of MVP voting three times, twice coming in sixth. Perhaps most improbably, he appeared in national, high-profile commercials despite playing for the Rays.
I think the biggest moment in franchise history has to be clinching the 2008 pennant, but Longoria himself was responsible for the most exciting moment. Remember, with less than a month left in the 2011 season, the Rays trailed the Red Sox by nine games for the AL Wild Card. They got help from the Red Sox collapse, but the Rays won their final five games to steal the spot at the absolute last minute. Just minutes before this at-bat, the Rays found out the Red Sox lost. They now needed a win to cap the comeback playoff spot.
Enter Longoria:
As noted by the broadcast, it was Longoria's second home run of the game. In that last stretch when they ran down the Red Sox, Longoria hit .298/.459/.607 with seven homers and 20 RBI in 25 games.
He was never a stranger to the big-time hits, even when he was a rookie.
Going back to that magical 2008 run, Longoria's first-ever playoff game came against the White Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS. His first career postseason at-bat came to lead off the bottom of the second. He hit a home run. Next at-bat, he would homer again, giving the Rays a 4-3 lead they wouldn't relinquish. He would end up driving home three of their six runs in a 6-4 win.
In the next round (2008 ALCS), Longoria would collect just seven hits in the seven-game victory over the Red Sox, but those were three doubles and four home runs, paving the way for eight RBI.
In his 30 career postseason games, Longoria has nine homers and 21 RBI.
That doesn't account for the above highlight or when the Rays had to play the Rangers in 2013 for the second Wild Card spot. They would win, 5-2, behind a complete-game effort from David Price. The big offensive blow? You guessed it:
Longoria was 3 for 4 with a double, home run, two RBI and two runs in that one.
Evan Longoria is the Rays franchise record holder in WAR, games, plate appearances, at-bats, runs, total bases, doubles, home runs, RBI, walks, times on base, extra-base hits, sac flies, intentional walks and most likely, as we've outlined above, memorable moments. Those moments mean a hell of a lot more than the numbers that will remain etched in their record books for at least the near future and possibly longer.
For a decade, Evan Longoria was the Tampa Bay Rays. It's going to be so weird to see him in another uniform, but the greater Tampa/St. Pete area will always have those incredible memories.