TAMPA – On Saturday afternoon, the greatest Ray of all time got to put on the jersey once more.
“It feels really good. It feels like I should’ve never taken it off,” Evan Longoria said.
Though he hasn’t played since 2023, Longoria put off officially retiring from Major League Baseball but finally put pen to paper Saturday in Tampa Bay.
Evan Longoria officially retires a Ray.
“It becomes official when you say you’re retired, right?” Longoria said.
“If I don’t say I’m retired then, maybe. I was never going to play, but you’re not a former player yet.”
Signing a ceremonial one-day contract, the three-time gold glove third baseman officially retired with the team that drafted him third overall in 2006.
“He got traded, went and played for San Francisco and finished out his career in Arizona, but he is a Ray,” said manager Kevin Cash.
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Longoria’s legacy can still be felt inside the Rays’ clubhouse.
What they’re saying:
“The name was always around and you kind of strive to be because he was kind of the pedestal of what the Rays stood for,” said second baseman Brandon Lowe.
The backstory:
Longoria played for the Rays from 2008 to 2017 and helped lead the club to the 2008 World Series.
“We were able to change a culture,” Longoria said.
“Whether we go to the World Series in 2008 or not, the winning season that year, going to the playoffs turned the organization around as a whole.”
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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Sean Barie.
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