Longoria sets rookie team record.

[Kingdom]

The man keeps on truckin'

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Evan Longoria had another memorable at-bat during his outstanding rookie season.

Longoria, Dioner Navarro and Cliff Floyd homered to help the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Indians 8-4 on Tuesday night.

Longoria's two-run drive in Tampa Bay's four-run seventh was his 22nd of the season, setting a team record for a rookie. Longoria hit two long drives that landed in foul territory then took a pitch before connecting against Rafael Betancourt.

"Longo's at-bat was spectacular," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He thought the first foul ball he hit was the hardest ball the whole at-bat."

Longoria's 428-foot drive made it 6-3, and Floyd and Navarro added back-to-back shots later in the inning.

Longoria hit a grand slam off Toronto ace Roy Halladay on July 20 during a 10-pitch at-bat. He fouled two balls off his left ankle before the homer.

ESPN - Indians vs. Rays - Recap - August 05, 2008

I think that, no only is he the face of this franchise that has finally dug itself out of the horrible ways it started off it's history, but Longoria should quickly become one of the faces of baseball as a whole. He carries himself in a great yet professional manner and clearly has the grace of popularity working for him when he soundly won the vote in segment of the all star game. Object to this? He seems to have all the qualities of a leader of a clubhouse and performs at a high level to boot, he's going to win many gold gloves or SHOULD win many gold gloves. He should be win rookie of the year. And frankly, the more Tampa wins, you can consider him as an MVP candidate. Sure, he wouldn't win it, but you can't argue such a great impact he's had on the team. He's one of those destined for greatness types and frankly, Tampa needs a guy like that to save that franchise. The places they can go with at least he and Upton carrying the torch.

Do you remember when Pujols burst on to the scene? Watching, even though you may have never heard of him before, you knew he was some special type of player. Longoria actually had a lot of hype before ever being in a major league game, but the same feel exists.

And he has a 9 year deal.

[browntown653]

Did you see the home run today? Holy ****ing shit...I honestly think it hit the roof.

[Doppelgänger]

To bad he is going to wake up one day and forget how to hit. Probably around February.

[Kingdom]

This isn't CSSL!