At the age of 23, Evan Longoria has already made his mark as an important baseball player in his role with the Tampa Bay Rays. In his first season in a Rays jersey, he was elected to the All-Star Team in the Final Fan vote, won the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award for the American League and played a pivotal role in getting Amazing Rays into the World Series.

Although the third baseman was expected to start the 2008 season in a Rays jersey, in fact he did not make the cut. He was optioned to the Durham Bulls instead and was called up only when Willy Aybar was placed on the disabled list. Once in the big leagues, he went through his “firsts” as a slugger in short order.

• April 12, 2008: debut in the Major League, going one for three and driving in a run
• April 14, 2008: first career home run, against the New York Yankees
• May 24, 2008: first two-home run game, as he drove in six runs, against the Baltimore Orioles
• July 19, 2008: first career grand slam
• September 18, 2008: first three-home run game, against the Minnesota Twins
• September 20, 2008: caught the game-ending out that clinched a play-off spot for the Rays for the first time in their history

He finished the 2008 season in a Rays jersey with a .272 batting average, 27 home runs, 85 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .343.

Tampa Bay’s appearance in the 2008 World Series is quite remarkable. They finished

2007 with the worst record in baseball. Accordingly, they placed last in the American League East Division, a spot that the team was quite familiar with. Since the team founded in 1998 as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they have finished in the cellar every year, except 2004, when they finished in fourth place (of five teams) and in 2008, when they won the division. Winning the division meant demoting the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox to second place.

The Rays defeated the Chicago White Sox three games to one in the American League Division Series. They then beat the Boston Red Sox four games to three in the American League Championship Series to advance to the World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies edged out the Rays in the World Series, four games to one.

Surely, Longoria's exceptional performance in the regular season helped propel the Amazing Rays into the World Series. Then he went on to make a powerful impression in the post-season. He hit home runs in his first two at-bats in his first post-season game on October 2, 2008. He is the first rookie, and only the second player, to hit home runs in his first two post-season at-bats. His 11 post-season home runs set a record for rookies.

Evan Longoria was born October 7, 1985, in Downey, California. He played shortstop for Rio Hondo Community College, and then transferred to Long Beach State when he was offered a baseball scholarship at that school. He moved from short to third base when he changed colleges. Longoria was drafted as the third overall pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. He moved quickly up the minor league chain before being called up to the Major Leagues in April, 2008.

Longoria wears Rays jersey number 3, and bats and throws right.

Despite the unusual similarity in their names, he is no relation to Eva Longoria Parker, that famous, if desperate, housewife. According to news reports, though, Eva sent Evan best wishes for the World Series.