Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, 2008

Third Baseman, Tampa Bay Rays

Age:  22

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’2”    Weight: 210

Prior to 2008:

A native of California, Longoria played baseball at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower where he was an All-Sierra League shortstop. Following high school he moved on to Rio Hondo Community College where he hit .430 and received first-team All-State recognition in 2004. Longoria moved on to Long Beach State where he was blocked at shortstop by future major leaguer Troy Tulowitzki, which caused him to be shifted to third base. He batted .320 in 2005 for a team that finished second in the Big West Conference. Playing summer ball with Chatham in the Cape Cod League, he had an outstanding season. With Long Beach State in 2006 he hit .353 with 11 home runs and 43 RBIs. Longoria was a first-round amateur draft selection by Tampa Bay in 2006 and signed for $3 million. With three teams from the Short Season Class A to Class AA levels in ’06 he batted a combined .315 in 62 games with 18 home runs and 58 RBIs. He moved on to Montgomery of the Class AA Southern League in 2007 where he hit .307 in 105 games with 21 home runs and 76 RBIs before advancing to the Durham Bulls of the Class AAA International League for the remainder of the year where he hit another 5 home runs, giving him 33 in 171 minor league games along with 115 RBIs. He started the 2008 season with Durham but he was called up by the Rays in April and took over as the starting third baseman.   

2008 Season Summary

Appeared in 122 games

3B – 119, SS – 1, DH – 1, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 508

At Bats – 448

Runs – 67

Hits – 122

Doubles – 31

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 27 [13, tied with Vladimir Guerrero]

RBI – 85

Bases on Balls – 46

Int. BB – 4

Strikeouts – 122 [15, tied with Jason Varitek]

Stolen Bases – 7

Caught Stealing – 0

Average - .272

OBP - .343

Slugging Pct. - .531 [8]

Total Bases – 238

GDP – 8

Hit by Pitches – 6

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 8 [11, tied with four others]

Midseason snapshot: HR - 16, RBI – 53, AVG – .275, SLG PCT - .513

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at Pittsburgh 6/27

Longest hitting streak – 7 games

Most HR, game – 3 (in 5 AB) vs. Minnesota 9/18

HR at home – 18

HR on road – 9

Multi-HR games – 3

Most RBIs, game – 6 vs. Baltimore 5/24

Pinch-hitting – 1 of 1 (1.000) with 1 RBI

Fielding

Chances – 328

Put Outs – 86

Assists – 230

Errors – 12

DP - 26

Pct. - .963

Postseason Batting: 16 G (ALDS vs. Chi. WS – 4 G; ALCS vs. Boston – 7 G; World Series vs. Philadelphia – 5 G)

PA – 67, AB – 62, R – 10, H – 12, 2B – 3,3B – 0, HR – 6, RBI – 13, BB – 5, IBB – 0, SO – 20, SB – 1, CS – 0, AVG - .194, OBP - .254, SLG - .532, TB – 33, GDP – 3, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

AL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

All-Star

11^th in AL MVP voting (38 points, 10% share)

AL ROY Voting (top 5):

Evan Longoria, TB: 140 pts. – 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share

Alexei Ramirez, ChiWS: 59 pts. – 42% share

Jacoby Ellsbury, Bos.: 26 pts. – 19% share

Mike Aviles, KC: 9 pts. – 6% share

Armando Galarraga, Det.: 9 pts. – 6% share

Rays, newly renamed from Devil Rays, went 97-65 to finish first in the AL Eastern Division by 2 games over the Boston Red Sox, to reach the postseason for the first time in franchise history. The team led the AL in stolen bases (142). Won ALDS over the Chicago White Sox, 3 games to 1. Won ALCS over the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3, overcoming a 3-1 deficit. Lost World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 1. The climactic Game 5 was suspended due to rain in the sixth inning and the Phillies won when play eventually resumed.

Aftermath of ‘08:

Longoria followed up with another strong season in 2009, hitting .281 with 33 home runs and 113 RBIs, garnering another All-Star selection and a Gold Glove for his play at third base as well as a Silver Slugger. He batted .294 in 2010, hitting 22 home runs with 104 RBIs and again being an All-Star and Gold Glove winner who ranked sixth in AL MVP voting. He hit 31 home runs with 99 RBIs in 2011 although his batting average dropped to .244 while the Rays finished second in the AL East and reached the postseason as a Wild Card. A torn hamstring limited Longoria to 74 games in 2012 but the Rays re-signed him to a six-year, $100 million contract extension after the season. He bounced back by playing in 160 games in 2013, batting .269 with 32 home runs and 88 RBIs and polling sixth in league MVP balloting. Longoria remained a consistent and durable performer for the Rays through the 2017 season, a year in which he received his third Gold Glove. He hit a career-high 36 home runs in 2016 as well. In the 2017 offseason he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for four players. His career totals with Tampa Bay included a .270 batting average with 1471 hits, among which were 338 doubles, 19 triples, and 261 home runs. He also drove in 892 runs and was a three-time All-Star and Gold Glove recipient. In 2018 with the Giants Longoria was held to 125 games due to a broken hand and batted .244 with 16 home runs and 54 RBIs.  

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.