For Evan Longoria, it pays to be a Ray
Third baseman lives celebrity life on, off field
It’s good to be Evan Longoria— again. The Tampa Bay Rays third baseman spent the first weekend of the season toying with the New York Yankees, reaching base nine of 13 times, batting .600 and otherwise leading Tampa Bay’s three-game sweep. Those are the same Yankees that Longoria, the All-star and face of the Tampa Bay franchise, beat with a 12thinning home run on the final day of last season to put the Rays in the playoffs, a day that has been called the most exciting in regular-season history. Longoria admits thinking, “Wow, this has really happened,” as he circled the bases with arms upraised, a pose frozen in time — and for a figurine giveaway later this month at a Rays game. He must think that often. After all, Longoria hits season-saving home runs, wins Gold Glove awards and plays in All-star Games, collects classic cars and dates a Playboy Playmate, cooks in posh steakhouses and drums like a rock star (sort of). He even jumps out of helicopters and saves pretty news reporters from hard-hit foul balls. “I’m no different than anybody else,” he says. Wrong. It’s You’re Evan Longoria. good to be Evan Longoria. “It is, you know. A lot of 26-year-olds aren’t blessed with the opportunities that I am.” Name another. “I appreciate my life. There’s nothing bad about it.” He’s almost sheepish about that admission, sitting in the clubhouse amid teammates who certainly have no quarrel about this Southern California kid with the seemingly charmed existence. “That’s the life, man,” Rays pitcher J.P. Howell says. “And somehow he keeps his feet on the ground, even with all the beautiful extras.” That’s a key component of the Longoria magic: an easygoing coolness that starts on the field. As Longoria stood in the batter’s box seconds before he hit the storybook homer, the Tropicana Field crowd erupted. The Boston Red Sox had lost, meaning a Rays victory ensured a playoff berth. He took a deep breath, regained his focus and became a hero — again. Just like when he hit home runs with his first two postseason swings in 2008 as a rookie in the franchise’s first playoff game. “I’ve been very fortunate to be given the opportunity to have a chance to succeed in moments like that,” he says. “I’ve been fortunate enough to come through to develop a little bit of a reputation.” He has kept on hitting this season, batting .345 with an on-base-plusslugging percentage of nearly 1.000 entering the week. “Longo is unique in that he’s got all his baseball confidence that’s spilling over into the rest of his world,” Rays manager Joe Maddon says. “He understands his place in the game. He’s not going to run away from it. He gets it.” Longoria, 11 years younger than Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, finds himself in baseball’s next generation. “My parents recognize Derek Jeter or Jim Thome or guys like that,” he says. “But it’s funny what age group you see yourself appealing to. I see a lot of kids in that 9-12 group who come up and recognize me, and they’re telling their parents who I am.” Longoria has transcended the limitations of a small-market team with low attendance. Still a week shy of the fourth anniversary of his major league debut, he’s been cover boy for the MLB 2K10 video game. The leap from the helicopter was part of his superherostyle persona in a New Era caps commercial the same year. The barehanded stab of the line drive to save the news reporter was a 2011 fake, engineered as part of his spokesman role with Gillette — and the company got what it wanted when the video went viral on Youtube. The endorsements make up for what could have been had Longoria not signed a six-year, $17.5 million contract extension (with three option years totaling $30 million) a week into his rookie season. “I’ve never regretted it for one day,” he says of not waiting for what would have been a much bigger payday had he waited to create the résumé he has now. “It would be like somebody putting the winning lottery ticket in your hand and you say I might have a chance to win it eight years later, so hold off.”
Super-cool appeal
His appeal is a balancing act for a rich, famous, handsome, athletic but otherwise run-of-the-mill 26-year-old. “It’s a great thing for me that I have to realize where my fan base lies, and when I’m tweeting and doing all this stuff I have to realize I’m not speaking just to my age group and older,” he says. “When I was 8, I was worried about playing regular Nintendo, going outside and playing catch. These kids are on Twitter.” Consider the Longoria good life beyond the purview of those preteens: uhis current girlfriend is Jaime Edmondson, Playboy’s Miss January 2010, former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, part of The Amazing Race TV show for two seasons, current sports blogger for Playboy and a host of Sirius/xm’s Fantasy Sports Radio.
“It’s weird to have to admit to certain dates or even be asked the question,” he says. “That’s all fine and good, because there are certain aspects of my life that I am willing to concede, to be up front about. There are more private issues, of course— family issues, stuff like that.”
He does his best to shield his family from the glare. Hes the oldest of Mike and Man’ Ellen Longoria’s four children from a middle-class neighborhood in Bellflower, Calif.
But having a girlfriend with a celebrity side works.
“It’s not that we all want to date somebody famous or a model or whatever,” Longoria says. “But you don’t have to explain to them why people want to take pictures with you or why you’re getting a thousand random e-mails or messages or phone calls. It’s just a given. We understand that.”
ulongoria keeps a drum set in his locker, and a mini-version will be another Rays giveaway this summer. He also collects drumhead covers, including one from Rush signed by all of the band’s members.
He got it when lead singer and baseball fan Geddy Lee asked for a ball signed by Matt Garza after his 2010 no-hitter for the Rays. Clubhouse manager Chris Westmoreland, knowing Longoria’s passion, set up the swap.
“I have a lot of memorabilia,” Longoria says. “That’s probably one of my favorite pieces. I love playing the drums, but I’ll never be a rock star, never be able to play on tour with anybody.”
uwhat he might be able to do professionally is cook, which he calls his second love behind baseball.
Longoria spent New Year’s Eve in the kitchen of the posh and trendy N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, where friend Barry Dakake is the chef.
“I worked the fry station, french fries, fried calamari,” Longoria says. “It was tough, man. You don’t realize how fast they’re moving back there. That’s what I want to do, though. I could be a restaurateur.”
And the cars date to before he was born. He has a 1969 Camaro SS and a
custom version of a 1971 Mustang Mach I. Last year, his 1967 Camaro RS was stolen from a lot near his home in Arizona.
Three weeks later, $65,000 worth of items was taken from the spring training rental he shared with teammates David Price and Reid Brignac.
So maybe it’s not always good to be Evan Longoria?
“Shoot, if that’s the worst thing that’s going to happen,” he says. “Nobody was harmed. My family is fine.”
Humble on, off field
Price, another Rays All-star who made his debut in 2008, is hardly fazed by the Longoria life.
Not the heroics — “That’s what he does,” Price says with a shrug.
Not the celebrity — “Eva Longoria sends him champagne,” Price says with another shrug, referring to congratulations Evan got for his first All-star selection from the unrelated actress and near-namesake. And Longoria hardly seems affected. “I don’t think any of us in here aspire to have our pictures taken at a normal lunch or go out and be talked to by every third person on the street about the game last night,” he says. “But the reality is that it’s our life now. I try to embrace it because there are so many people out there who would give their firstborn to be in the situation we’re in. That’s what keeps me motivated to be the person that I am.”