ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Evan Longoria pretty much knew after his 16th big-league season last year it was time to move on.
Spending time without the daily grind of the season with his family cemented that.
Longoria threw out a ceremonial pitch dressed in a jersey of his first team before the Tampa Bay Rays’ game Saturday with the Cleveland Guardians.
And afterwards when asked if any part of him wanted to comeback and play again, he simply replied “No.”
“I waited long enough to know that I was done,” Longoria said. “I just felt like the last couple of years it was getting closer and closer. Then last year being able to go to the World Series (with Arizona) made it a pretty easy decision for me going into the offseason.”
Longoria has not officially filed his retirement paper, and with a smile said there is one situation that would bring him back.
“I feel like one of the only things I haven’t accomplished is winning the World Series,” Longoria said. “If you said I would go hit .080 for the rest of the season, but the team would win the World Series and then I’d go do it.”
Longoria spent his first 10 big league seasons and was an All-Star the first three with the Rays, who after going to the 2008 World Series when he was 23 never made it past the AL Division Series again while he was there.
The 38-year-old became the first position player in MLB history to appear in a World Series 15 years after first playing in the Fall Classic last season with Arizona. Three pitchers have accomplished the feat, with Dennis Martinez being the last one to do it in 1995 with Cleveland.
In 2008, when the Tampa Bay Rays won the AL pennant, Longoria was an All-Star and Rookie of the Year.
Longoria would like to stay involved in the game.
“Baseball has been my passion for as long as I can remember,” Longoria said. “I hope that I’m able to stay in the game at some capacity while also being able to be a present dad and be at home and not have to miss a ton of memories with my kids.”
Longoria hit 342 homers and drove in 1,159 runs in 1,986 games.
“Longo is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “This guy’s a pro’s pro. This guy’s the epitome of what a professional baseball player looks like. Evan Longoria is everything that’s good about our game and what a wonderful career he had.”
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