[新聞] Longoria is the AL Player of the Month
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Longoria's monster April nets him hardware
Rays third baseman named AL Player of the Month
By Bill Chastain / MLB.com
05/05/09 3:54 PM ET
ST. PETERSBURG -- Evan Longoria is the American League's Player of the Month.
Tampa Bay's third baseman, already a two-time winner in April of the AL
Player of the Week honors, has followed that up as the logical recipient of
Sharp Presents the American League Player of the Month.
"It's very special," Longoria said. "Like I always say, I'd take a win over
anything and I'd much rather us be in first place. The personal
accomplishments are something that I'll be able to treasure by myself for the
rest of my life."
The 2008 AL Rookie of the Year hit .369 during April, with six homers and 24
RBIs -- which tied him for the league lead and equaled the Tampa Bay record
for the month.
Longoria's dominating month also included Major League-highs for doubles
(11), extra-base hits (17) and total bases (60).
Ever since his arrival to the Rays early in the 2008 season, Longoria has
come up big time and again and has received many accolades. Despite the many
opportunities to fall in love with who he has become, Longoria seems to be
the same guy he was when he first came to the team.
"I constantly try to humble myself," Longoria said. "If you don't, I'm sure
that the game is going to find a way to humble you. Like I always say, I've
got to come to the ballpark and do the same things. And treat everybody the
same and try to keep things as simple and plain as possible. I think the
minute you start filling your head with those kinds of things it's going to
be the downfall of anything that's going good. So I try to keep myself humble
and stay grounded."
Longoria feels like he's continuing to improve, even though he offers, "It's
very slight." He is particularly pleased with the strides he has made when it
comes to being selective at the plate.
"I've been focusing on my pitch selection," Longoria said. "And that was one
of the biggest things coming from last year to this year was trying to cut
down my strikeouts and trying to pick better pitches to hit. And I think it's
really translated. I've gotten some good pitches to hit in situations and I
think that's why my RBI production has been so good. I've been swinging at
good pitches."
Teammate Carlos Pena hits in the fourth spot in the Rays' lineup, right
behind Longoria, and was happy for Longoria, who became the first Rays player
to win the award.
"It's very well deserved," Pena said. "He's been amazing. Ever since he got
here last year, he's been a force for our lineup [and] for our team with the
glove and especially with the bat.
"It seems like every day he comes up with a crazy play, like coming up with a
slow roller that just amazes me. So not surprised, but very happy, very
excited for him, just very grateful that I get to see it on a daily basis."
Pena cited Longoria's at-bat against Boston's Justin Masterson Friday night
that resulted in a grand slam as a study in excellence.
"In the past, [Masterson] had been pretty tough on him," Pena said. "And that
particular at-bat he had two strikes on him. And [he] had not looked very
pretty against Masterson. He had been very difficult on him. Yet I saw him
step out, take a deep breath, kind of shrug his shoulders.
"I'm just thinking what's going on inside him, that he's saying, 'there's
only one thing I can do and that's trust my ability.' That's what it seemed
like to me. And sure enough, on the next pitch he hits it out. And that to me
is huge, how can you slow it down so much when everything is so quick around
you. Situation, we're down, bases loaded, he's got two strikes, there's two
outs. You know we need a big hit. ... And yet he still has the presence of
mind to slow it down and say, 'I'm just going to see this ball and put the
barrel on it.' ... He's just a kid. That's what's so impressive."
Runner-up in the selection process was Kevin Youkilis. The Boston first
baseman matched Longoria's .369 average, with five home runs and a
league-leading .505 on-base percentage.
Also receiving votes were Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill (.365-5-20), Peñ
a (nine homers, 24 RBIs) and Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano (.366, 18
runs).
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