Roger Mooney covers the Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.
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Posted Oct 21, 2008 by Marc Lancaster
Updated Oct 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Evan Longoria’s peers have selected him as the American League’s top rookie this season in a Sporting News poll.
The full press release follows:
Rays third baseman Evan Longoria and Cubs catcher Geovany Soto are Sporting News’ Rookies of the Year, as selected by a panel of 314 major league players.
Soto batted .285 with 23 home runs and 86 RBIs and handled a pitching staff that included four 11-plus game winners and 97 total victories. The Cubs had the National League’s third-lowest team ERA.
“In Chicago, there haven’t been many catchers who have done what he did, catching 140-some games, because of all the day games and the toll it takes on your body,” Cubs 17-game winner Ryan Dempster told Sporting News. “As far as handling pitchers, he’s been lucky and good in that he has veteran guys who know what they want to do. But he’s not afraid to come to the mound and challenge us.”
Longoria missed more than a month with a fractured wrist, but still managed to hit .272 with 27 home runs and 85 RBIs for the American League champion Rays.
“Here’s a kid who does not take anything for granted. He understands how blessed he is to be in the big leagues,” Rays first baseman Carlos Pena told SN. “But at the same time, he knows at a very early age that it’s the same game he was playing in college and high school. To be able to have that type of mentality at this level is great. In all these situations, he’s still just playing his game. That’s not easy.”
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Reader Comments
Por (Shawna Downs) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Evan for President GO RAYS!!!!!!!!
Suggest removalPor (Brandy) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Congrats to the Rays! The whole team deserves recognition. They are all so young it’s hard to pick out a clear star but that makes it even nicer. You can cheer and get excited for every player.
Suggest removalPor (Lynn Johnson) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
I just heard that the 1st game of the World Series tomorrow night is going to be tape delayed for 30 minutes due to OBAMA giving his “speech” at the game time start. Guess he is going for the gusto…getting a large crowd that will be waiting to watch the game. Hard to believe that NBC would sell that time slot when the possiblity was there for the World Series to start but also, it’s even more telling about what Obama is all about…himself!
Suggest removalPor (Steven W. Hair) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
To Lynn Johnson: First of all, it is not the first game of the series that MAY be delayed; it is the 6th, which may not even take place. In case you haven’t noticed, there is an election going on and both candidates are constantly barraging us with ads and speeches all about themselves. It is just shameless self promotion, I guess. I guess they both are just all about themselves.
Suggest removalLeave the politics to the news articles; not the sports. Let us enjoy sports. I could not care less about the start time of any of these games
Por (Lynn Johnson) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
To Hair (democrat), I guess I didn’t make my point clear…I think it stinks whether it’s the 1st game or the 6th game (if there is one). And it’s not going to delay the game, (you need to read more clearly), it’s going to delay our viewing of the game so we won’t be seeing it in real time, again, IF that should happen.
Suggest removalPor (lo jones) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
please leave your political views out of baseball
Suggest removalPor (lo jones) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
By the way congrats E.L. keep doing your thing. GO RAYS!!!!!!
Suggest removalPor (JamesD) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
This was the easiest Rookie of the year pick that I can remember. When Evan came up at the start of the season. We saw a change in the team. The fact that they signed him to a long term deal was the smartest move I have ever seen. If they had waited til the end of the year. That figure would have easily doubled.
Suggest removalPor (Lou C) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
great choice, I think he was the best and they got it right. I can’t wait for this election to be over, I am sick of all the ads and back stabbing. Makes me sick!!!
Suggest removalPor (Barbara Morris) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Hey Evan…..Congratulations!!! I am going to game 2 Thursday night….please, please hit a World Series HOME RUN for me. I am very proud to be a Rays fan, now and forever!!
Suggest removalPor (Pete Garbacki) on October 21, 2008 (Suggest removal)
It bothers me that the World Series games are on so late. It keeps children from being able to watch the whole game. My 7 year-old daughter is getting interested in the RAYS and baseball, but she has school the next day and cannot watch much of the game because of the time. How are kids going to learn to love the game without watching it?
That said, I am psyched that the RAYS are in it and I cannot wait for the games to begin!! Go RAYS!!!!!!
Suggest removalPor (Terry) on October 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
30 minute delay? Thanks, Obama…you just ticked off the entire I-4 corridor of voters.
I think you might want to rethink this somehow…at least in Florida…let the local Tampa stations carry it live…you’ll get a bigger bang for the buck by doing that then our having to listen (again) how you are going to save all of us.
Suggest removalPor (nancy tokarz) on October 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Evan has been an inspiration to us all since he first stepped onto the field. He has had his ups & downs but has managed to stay positive & that smile og his lights up the TROP!!...His is the shirt bought last spring & the one I still wear proudly. GO RAYS!!~ GO LONGO!!!
Suggest removalPor (Bert Cole) on October 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
If in fact Obama ends up delaying a World Series game start, I’ve got to believe it’s one of the stupidest moves he could make.
He needs Florida to win, wether he admits it or not. P*ssing off a large percentage of the population this close to the election is definitely not the way to win the state.
Is Karl Rove giving him advice?
Suggest removalPor (Rick Mayer) on October 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Game 6 will not be tape-delayed. It will be shown live on Fox. The start time was pushed back 8 minutes to 8:35 p.m. to accommodate the Obama program.
Suggest removalPor (william goldman) on October 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
LET THE GAMES BEGIN.LISTEN PARENTS, THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME FOR YOUR KIDS TO WATCH YOUR TAMPA BAY RAYS IN THE WORLD SERIES. LET THEM WATCH THE GAME AS LONG AS THEY CAN STAY AWAKE.TAPE THE REST.
Suggest removalCONGRATULATIONS TO LONGORIA, HE DESERVIES ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.
FOR ONCE, QUIT WORRYING ABOUT OBAMA OR ANY POLITICAL VENUE. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THE WORLD SERIES, WITH OUR TAMP BAY RAYS
Por (Walter Beaver) on October 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
I can not understand how anyone with any sense at all could get excited about the rays being in the world series. To begin with it is not the ” World ” series it is the U>S> and Canada series, no other country is allowed to challenge the teams. If all these people would look back they would realize that the rays, like the other two pro teams in this area, are losers. The bucs won the super bowl once and then went back to their losing way, the same with the lighting. Now it’s the rays turn. One winning season and then back to losing.
Losers will always be losers.
Suggest removalPor (Bill G) on October 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Walter of Brandon - You represent all that is wrong with people commenting on something they know nothing about. I guess it is supposed to be easy to win. Ignorance on your part.
Suggest removalPor (Henry Jennings) on October 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)
Red Sox Nation Rooting for Rays now!
I’m 51. I’ve been a diehard Red Sox since I was 10. Red Sox fans are the most passionate in the world. The Sox make our summmer and fall. We’ve endured humility. For 86 years we always blew it at the end. But that all changed in 2004. Winning every year would be boring. Since the Red Sox aren’t going to win the series, we’re rooting for the Rays now. The Ray’s Cinderella story has been captivating all year. Win it all for the AL east! Red Sox Nation is temorarily Rays Nation. Go Rays!
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