Evan Longoria To Receive Incredible Honor From Rays This Season
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There have been a lot of talented players to take the field for the Tampa Bay Rays, but Evan Longoria is in a league of his own.
When taking a look at the Rays' all-time lists, Longoria pops up more than any player. He was an integral part of some of the best teams Tampa Bay has had in its history, and he is set to be immortalized by the franchise.
It has been officially announced that the Rays are going to be retiring his No. 3 uniform during the 2026 season. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the ceremony is set to occur during Longo Legacy Weekend.
On July 11, Longoria will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. The following day, on July 12, he will have his jersey retired.
Rays set to retire Evan Longoria's No. 3 uniform
The star third baseman will be the sixth member of the franchise’s Hall of Fame, joining Don Zimmer, Wade Boggs, Carl Crawford, Fred McGriff and Dave Wills. His No. 3 will be only the fourth number retired by the franchise, along with No. 12 for Boggs, No. 66 for Zimmer and No. 42, which is retired across the sport for Jackie Robinson.
Longoria has earned his spot amongst the other legendary players who suited up for Tampa Bay with some incredible production throughout his career, which ended after the 2023 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
There are 46 statistics that Baseball Reference has on the career batting leaders page for the Rays. Longoria is No. 1 in 26 of those categories, including WAR for positional players with 51.7 and offensive WAR with 41.8.
His 1,435 games played, 261 home runs, 338 doubles, 2,630 total bases, 892 RBI and 618 extra-base hits are amongst the other categories that he is leading the way in. When the lists are expanded to show the top 10, Longoria is featured 13 more times.
#Rays also set officials dates for Evan Longoria honors. As part of Longo Legacy Weekend, he will be inducted into team Hall of Fame July 11 and No. 3 jersey will be retired on July 12.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) February 9, 2026
Batting average, on-base percentage, stolen bases, sacrifice hits, caught steal, steal percentage and at-bats per strikeout are the only statistics Longoria doesn’t rank inside the top 10 of Tampa Bay history in.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft out of California State University, Long Beach, he certainly lived up to the lofty expectations that come along with being selected that high. The Rays viewed him as a franchise cornerstone and that is exactly what he was for 10 seasons.
A three-time All-Star, making the American League Team in each of his first three seasons in the Big Leagues, Longoria also won Rookie of the Year in 2008. He added three Gold Glove Awards to his resume and was on the MVP ballot six times, with his highest finish being sixth place twice.
There is also one Silver Slugger Award on his resume, earned in 2009.
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Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. Previously, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.