Third baseman Evan Longoria has experienced his share of “firsts” in his rookie season with the Tampa Bay Rays. In October, the former Long Beach State star will be able to add “first playoff appearance” to that list.
Longoria caught the final out as the Rays clinched the franchise’s first postseason berth in its 11-year existence with a 7-2 win over the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field last Saturday.
“I think every baseball player and every kid dreams of this day,” Longoria told The Associated Press. “It’s a reality now.”
The win secures at least the AL wild card, but the club continues to lead the race for the American League East division title. In nine of its first 10 seasons, Tampa Bay has finished last in the five-team AL East, while the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have dominated the division.
This year, instead of booking early vacation plans, the Rays will be among the eight teams with a shot at a World Series trophy when the postseason begins Oct. 1.
“It’s an incredible feeling. This is what you come to spring training for,” Longoria said. “We’re going to be one of eight teams in the playoffs. It’s awesome.”
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a storybook debut season thus far, which includes his first All-Star selection when the fans voted him in as the 32nd and final man on the AL All-Star team in mid-July. He’s also been named the AL’s Player of the Week (June 23-29) and Rookie of the Month in June.
Entering Tuesday, Longoria leads all AL rookies in home runs (25) and RBIs (82) while hitting .276 in 115 games this season. He’s widely considered the front-runner to win the AL Rookie of the Year award, which won’t be announced until November.
As of Tuesday morning, Tampa Bay (93-62) was leading the AL East by 2 1/2 games over Boston (91-65), which holds a commanding six-game lead in the AL wild card race with six games to play. Barring a colossal collapse, the Red Sox should win at least the AL wild card with the division title still hanging in the balance.
If the playoffs started today, the Rays would face the Chicago White Sox (86-69), who hold a 2 1/2-game lead over the Minnesota Twins (84-72) in the AL Central.
The Los Angeles Angels (97-59), who have already clinched the AL West title, lead Tampa Bay by three games in the race for the AL’s best record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Since the Rays can’t start a first-round series against the Red Sox because they play in the same division, that would mean the AL East winner (either Tampa Bay or Boston) would have home-field against the winner of the AL Central. The Angels would host the wild card winner and start the best-of-five series in Anaheim.