Before Evan Longoria met with fans gathered at a Sweetbay Supermarket in Palm Harbor, Florida, I spent a few minutes with him and talked about the Pepsi MAX Field of Dreams and his season so far.
Q: Let’s get started on the right foot. How did it feel to reach that 20-homerun mark the other night and then hit number 21 Monday night?
A: Um pretty good. It’s been quite a struggle this year just physically to be healthy. But, I mean, I’m pretty happy with how it’s gone. Obviously, my average is not good, but outside of that I mean I think the goal is just to produce as many runs as I can at this point and just do everything I can to help the team win.
Prince Fielder, the first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers, became my favorite slugger a decade ago. Back in 1999 Prince Fielder was a freshman at Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Florida. I was 11 and was the head baseball coach’s eldest daughter and nine-year-old Hannah was the baby of the family.
For me, baseball was still an innocent game. Heroes of the game had not yet fallen from their pedestals because they chose to bulk up the easy way. Prince was a part of that pure game when he was at Florida Air and when I look at the pictures of him after he was crowned the King of the 2009 Homerun Derby I can still see the genuine smile of a 16-year-old shine through.
Nobody’s perfect. That fact extends to my own baseball fandom more than I’d like to admit sometimes.
You see, I’m not a lifelong fan of any Major League Baseball team and still, here I am, writing about baseball.My first MLB team was none other than the New York Yankees.
As is the case with most current Rays fans, Tampa Bay’s team didn’t exist when I was born. I was a third grader when Major League Baseball added the Rays and the Diamondbacks to the league in 1998.
I may have embraced the Rays earlier in my life if not for the events of the late spring of 1998. That year, my dad coached the Class 3A Florida Air Academy Falcons to a State Championship. The tournament was played on Legends (now Steinbrenner) Field in Tampa. The fond memories that were made during that week of my life are viewed through a navy and white filter.
"Write what you know." - Mark Twain
Here are excerpts from some of the stories I've written. Just click the title to be directed to the full version.
Baseball is a game of tradition, skill, strength and speed. And whether you like it or not, baseball is a game of numbers: batting averages, RBIs, ERAs, wins, losses and so many more. Now that the regular season is over, there is time for fans and teams alike to take a look at the numbers.
If you’re with the Washington Nationals those numbers aren’t good ones. For the second year in a row they finished the regular season with over 100 losses. While eight teams enter the playoffs this week, the Nats will probably spend part of October wondering what went wrong. I know Washington’s most recent record leaves much to be desired but I also know that there’s a certain type of fan who will be back next year. Bryan Davidson is one of them.
SARAH TYSON
Social Media Manager