Longoria’s cool, reliever’s heat lead Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – So this is how the Tampa Bay Rays handled their first postseason experience, with California cool and a little Aussie madness adorning their 6-4 win Thursday over the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of their American League Division Series.

Rookie third baseman Evan Longoria, who wasn’t even drafted out of high school – he went to the same school (St. John’s Bosco in Bellflower, Calif.) as Nomar Garciaparra of the Los Angeles Dodgers – hit home runs in each of his first two at-bats, joining his Triple-A hitting coach, Gary Gaetti, as the only players to do so the first time they batted in the postseason.

Longoria also singled in a run, all while using a Louisville Slugger I13 fresh out of the box of bats shipped to him.

“Brand new,” he said. “There are three ball marks on it. All in the same spot.”

Then, with the Rays facing their tightest spot of the afternoon at Tropicana Field, Aussie reliever Grant Balfour, who hurls fastballs and F-bombs with equal temerity, struck out two with the bases loaded to end the seventh, including Orlando Cabrera, who took offense when he thought Balfour’s use of the King’s most profane English was directed at him.

Cabrera barked back, kicked dirt and pounded his bat, which, as you might imagine, only inflamed Balfour, whose on-field demeanor reminds Rays manager Joe Maddon of the Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky, a Maddon favorite while growing up a St. Louis Cardinals fan.

When Balfour finished striking out Cabrera, he marched toward the plate, arms akimbo, and roared twice more at the Chicago shortstop, causing a few other voices from both sides to be heard.

“I can say for once,” said A.J. Pierzynski, the White Sox resident provocateur, “that I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Balfour said he couldn’t understand why Cabrera made a fuss. It’s what he does every time he pitches. The expletives are his idea of a self-help speech.

“I fire myself up,” he said. “That’s what I do. I’m never talking to the hitter. I’m never going to show up a hitter.”

Cabrera later said he was unaware of Balfour’s personality quirk and seemed satisfied to know that Balfour wasn’t picking on him. Balfour admitted, however, that he enjoyed getting in the last word.

“I just said, ‘Go sit down,’ ” said Balfour, who with two other Rays relievers, J.P. Howell and Dan Wheeler, preserved a win for James Shields. “It was a good feeling.”

Longoria, who turns 23 on Oct. 7, has the most recognizable name of any Ray. Everyone wants to know if he’s related to Eva, aka Mrs. Tony Parker (he’s not).

But chances are strong that long after “Desperate Housewives” fades into the rerun bin, the ballplayer will be the one who’s still famous. One month into his big-league career, Rays veteran Eric Hinske was calling him “Superstar” and meaning it. Don Zimmer, baseball’s 77-year-old Yoda who remains with the Rays as a senior adviser, said that Longoria’s glove ranks with the best third basemen he has ever seen, and Zim isn’t one to make rash pronouncements.

“People always bring up Brooks Robinson and Graig Nettles, Billy Cox and Mike Schmidt,” Zimmer said. “This kid doesn’t have to take a backseat to any of them.”

After Longoria made a game-saving play against the Red Sox, Boston infielder Alex Cora marveled at Longoria’s “calm” and suggested it was a California thing. Longoria, remember, wasn’t on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster when the season started, having just 1½ years experience of pro ball. He was sent down in spring training – a decision openly questioned by teammates (“If I say I’m committed to winning, he’s on my team for sure,” said one, outfielder Jonny Gomes) – but when starting third baseman Willy Aybar was hurt in April, Longoria was summoned back.

The Rays left no doubt about their commitment to him, signing him on the spot to the richest contract ever given to a homegrown rookie (as opposed, say, to a Japanese import) – a guaranteed $17.5 million for six years, with the entire package potentially worth $44.5 million if option years are exercised that will keep him a Ray for nine years. If he stays healthy, the Rays will be applauded for pulling off the heist of the century.

Despite missing five weeks with a fractured wrist, Longoria led all big-league rookies with 27 home runs and a .531 winning percentage. Just days after returning to the lineup in September, Longoria had a three-homer game, to go along with two previous two-homer games, a six-RBI game, and two game-winning home runs. He received nine million votes in the runoff for the last spot on the AL All-Star team and took part in the Home Run Derby. They already are etching his name on the AL Rookie of the Year trophy which will be his come November.

“Honestly I wasn’t surprised,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said of Longoria’s performance on Thursday. “He’s always in the moment. He’s got this way about him that you know he’s not going to be overwhelmed by the situation. And that speaks beyond his skill level.”

Maddon told Longoria when he signed the contract not to worry about being a franchise savior. Longoria had a lot of help along the way, but it also is apparent he may not have been paying attention.

“Just the way he deals with adversity, deals with his lumps, his composure, the way he deals with a big league arena, is second to none,” Gomes said.

“He’s got the composure of someone I saw out there today – Ken Griffey Jr. Just in the box, cool, swinging at strikes, taking balls. It’s like he’s in his backyard with his homeys, not in the ALDS for the first time at 23 years old or whatever.

“You see guys bug-eyed, swinging at balls in hitters’ counts, chasing, (but) he’s got the composure of a well-traveled big-league player.”