Longoria thought he'd be with Rays 'forever'

PHOENIX -- For Evan Longoria, it doesn’t feel like that long ago that he was wearing his No. 3 Rays uniform. But a few things make it seem that way.

It has been 5 1/2 years since the deal that sent Longoria from Tampa Bay to San Francisco. He’s now with the D-backs, the second team he’s played for since that trade. And when the Rays arrived at Chase Field on Tuesday, there were no players in their clubhouse who played alongside Longoria; aside from manager Kevin Cash and hitting coach Chad Mottola, only rehabbing reliever Andrew Kittredge overlapped with him.

This is just the second time that the franchise’s greatest player has faced the club he represented from 2008-17, as the Rays previously played Longoria’s Giants in San Francisco in ‘19. In his second at-bat of Tuesday’s series opener, Longoria hit a solo home run to left field off Rays rookie starter Taj Bradley, giving him the distinction of homering against all 30 active teams. He is the 70th MLB player to do so.

Seeing Tampa Bay on the other side of the field still brings back “a lot of good memories” for Longoria.

“Obviously the [2008] World Series, but also being traded is a big memory, too,” Longoria said Tuesday afternoon. “I’ve talked a lot about thinking that I was going to be there forever. The reason why I signed the contracts that I did was I thought that that was going to be where I would be the rest of my career.

“I feel like I grew up there as a player and as a person and made my home there and met my wife there and just a lot of different things.”

For as much as the Rays mean to Longoria, it’s difficult to overstate what he meant -- and still means -- to Tampa Bay.

Longoria's arrival in 2008 coincided with their transformation from cellar-dwellers into perennial contenders. As the face of Tampa Bay’s franchise, he won the ‘08 American League Rookie of the Year Award, made three All-Star teams, received three Gold Glove Awards at third base and earned AL MVP votes in six different seasons.

“To me, personally, it meant a lot just having a guy that's kind of been there, done that. A veteran [who had] been there through a lot of times and helped create a lot of good times,” said Cash, crediting Longoria for helping him get acclimated as a first-time manager in 2015. “He meant a lot to the organization and, I think, still does.”

Longoria remains the franchise’s all-time leader in a number of statistics, including games played, runs, homers and RBIs. He was also the author of some of the most memorable moments in franchise history, none more unforgettable than his game-winning home run in Game 162.

As further proof of Longoria’s place in Rays’ history, consider that nobody has worn his No. 3 since he was traded. It’s fair to assume that nobody else ever will, either. That honor is not lost on the 37-year-old third baseman.

“It's never been something that I thought about, like, 'Oh, I don't want somebody to ever wear it again.' But the thought of having a number retired in the big leagues is also something that is very cool,” he said, smiling. “I think that it's something that I wouldn't take lightly. But it would probably hurt if they gave it to someone else, I'm not going to lie.”

Whenever he retires, Longoria is a lock to be named to the Rays’ new team Hall of Fame. But he was thrilled that the first inductee was the late Don Zimmer, who had a tremendous impact on him as a young player.

As a quirk of the schedule, Longoria still has not returned to Tropicana Field since he was traded. He acknowledged that doing so would be “pretty special,” especially if he could do so wearing a Rays uniform.

“I would love to be back there, because I feel like it would be special,” he said. “I have a lot of people that still message me on Instagram and say, ‘We'd love to see you come back,’ and I would do it for that reason, just because it made somebody there happy for me to be back and put that uniform on again, in whatever capacity it is.

“It doesn't need to be a player, it doesn't need to be a coach, whatever. If I just come back and throw out a first pitch, whatever it is, it would be a memory that I know myself and my family would cherish -- and, hopefully, whoever else comes out to the game, [it makes] their day, too.”