RBI (187) Evan Longoria...

On occasion I'll get an autograph and instead of immediately posting it I'll wait until that player does something noticeable or until he is relevant to post about. Right now with the Rays in postseason against the Red Sox Tampa Bay Rays 3rd baseman Evan Longoria is incredibly relevant and noticeable.

Longo was the 3rd overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft taken out of Long Beach State University the home of fellow stars Jered Weaver, Jason Vargas and Troy Tulowitzki. He's been the power of the heart of the Rays lineup and been recognized with multiple All-Star selections, Gold Glove awards and been named a Silver Slugger. If a third baseman can do it well he's doing it and been one of the main challengers to Adrian Beltre's reign as top third baseman within the American League the past few seasons.

Evan Longoria autographed this 2012 Allen and Ginter "What's in a Name" card for me when the Rays played the Angels during the 2012 season. I like these cards and got his fellow star ace pitcher David Price to sign his version of the card. With stars like Longoria, Price and Ben Zobrist it's easy to see why the Rays are making waves and in the post season.

RBI (186) Rays Magic...

The past few seasons the Tampa Bay Rays have been regular contenders in October and a big part of it has been digging out talent from all parts of the draft. Pitcher Jake McGee is one of those arms they found to be a solid arm coming out of the pen.

McGee was drafted out of the 2004 MLB Draft in the 5th round and debuted in 2010 for the Rays. The lefty has provided solid results for Joe Maddon when he comes out in games appearing in 71 games and recording his first career save this season. He's one of the under the radar guys that has helped the Rays hold on to their magic to push into the post season.

Jake McGee autographed this 2011 Topps Lineage rookie card for me when the Rays were in town to play against the Angels in the 2013 season. I like McGee and especially since the season before he gave me a Orioles commemorative baseball that I saved and ended up getting Adam Jones' autograph on.

RBI (182) A Utility All Star...

The past few seasons I've had mixed luck when the Rays come into town. I've gotten David Price before and it's one of my favorite pieces in my autograph collection but the position players have been tough for me. I was finally able to get Ben Zobrist's autograph this past season.

Zobrist was drafted in the 6th round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros but was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. He's played every position but pitcher and catcher and that versatility has helped Joe Maddon turn the Rays into a contender. He's been an All-Star two times already with his defensive abilities being valued by the AL All Star managers while having a decent average with pop and speed knocking in over 100 career Home Runs and having 90 career stolen bases.

Ben Zobrist autographed this 2013 Topps Heritage card and was nice enough to inscribe "All-Star" when he signed it for me. I got Zobrist to sign when he came into town with the Rays to play the Angels during the 2013 season.

RBI (112) A Post Season Regular...

It struck me as unusual that this October Johnny Damon was no where to be found. Damon has easily been one of the more popular players in the MLB as he bounced around team to team throughout his remarkable 18 year career.

Taken in the 1st round of the 1992 draft by the Kansas City Royals, Damon debuted quickly in 1995. After 6 years in Kansas he was sent to Oakland where he had a strong year that netted him a large contract with the Boston Red Sox. He left the Sox after 4 seasons infamously to cut his trademark locks for the New York Yankees for 4 seasons before being a gunslinger for Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland. He is a 2-time All Star and won 2 World Series Championships, one of the most memorable in sports history with the 2004 Red Sox and then one with the Yankees.

He sits at 2769 hits, 235 Home Runs, 1668 Runs scored, 1139 RBI's driven in and 408 Steals. His career .284 average goes along with a robust .352 OBP. While his home run numbers aren't overly impressive for having a 18 season career his 522 doubles and 109 Triples means 631 of his 2534 non-home run hits were for extra bases. For someone who batted leadoff or in the upper end of the order for most of his career Damon was hitting for extra bases at a clip of 1:4 hits or basically almost one a night. Not too shabby and it could be one reason that helped his teams appear in October for almost half his career.

Interestingly I wasn't the one to get this autograph. I was out in the outfield hunting for baseballs and had forgotten this team card and sharpie with my parents. Seeing him hanging out around the fans my mom actually went down the line and got Damon to sign this 2011 Topps team card for me. I was definitely excited when I found out she got it for me seeing as his importance to the '04 Sox.

RBI (97) The Price Was Right...

Well Ray's starting pitcher David Price was right on awesome when he came out to sign autographs before a game against the Angels. Price was a stand up guy and very fan friendly when he came over before pre-game warm ups to sign.

Price was taken by the then Devil Rays with the 1st pick of the 2007 MLB draft. He has been a top of the line starter since he broke into the Majors with an electric debut making headlines in the 2008 postseason with dominating appearances. So far into his career he has continued that dominance being a 3-time All-Star (starting the 2010 game for the AL), and finishing 2nd in the 2010 AL Cy Young race while winning the Warren Spahn Award given to the top lefty in the bigs.

His career numbers so far have shown the Ray's 1st pick was a perfect one as he has a 55-30 record supported by a 3.23 ERA and 661 Strikeouts. Price continues to improve with every season and is only at his age 26 season in 2012 despite being a standout leader for the tough Rays staff. The Rays will have some difficult decisions to make as he approaches the 2013 off season with his first year of arbitration.

I was able to get David to sign this 2012 All Star Game ball right below the logo. I'm really getting into having commemorative balls signed and really liked this year's design. The blue stitching on the ball looks nice and I prefer the blue inked logo over the years it's black since I've seen some logos fade over time. Plus I think it's neat to have an All Star ball from the year that he won the Cy Young Award. Having an David Price autographed baseball is definitely something I'm very happy to have in my collection.

David Price also autographed this 2012 Allen and Ginter What's In A Name insert card for me. I'm a really big fan of these inserts because I think they're a perfect card. You have a almost full copy of a mini, the player's full name, and a nice font type with a good looking border on the sweet A&G card stock. It'll be tough to get a lot of these signed since they're mainly superstars but it'll be cool to see what I can get done.

Edit: Congrats to Price winning the 2012 AL Cy Young award, it makes me even happier I was able to get him this year especially on the 2012 All Star ball since it's the year he won the Cy Young. It's also the first time a Rays player ever won the Cy Young so congratulations to the franchise for scouting and developing such a strong player.