In lieu of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrating the career of Evan Longoria*, we decided to come up with each of the major sports franchises’ most exciting moments (non-championship winning edition). What does non-championship winning mean? Well, for the Lightning it means no game-winning Stanley Cup goals (sorry Rusty Fedotenko and Ross Colton), and for the Bucs, no Super Bowl moments (sorry Dexter Jackson). We’re leaving it open for playoff moments, though, especially since two of the ones we picked happened in the playoffs.
Evan Longoria – Game 162
Perhaps the greatest regular season night in MLB history. September 28, 2011. If there is ever a question about why the wild card spot ever came into being in MLB, just point to this night. Both the National Leage and American League wild card races came down to the very last night of the season. In the AL, the Rays had closed a 9-game gap between them and the Red Sox over the previous three weeks, but still needed a couple of miracles to make it to the playoffs.
First off, they needed the woebegone Baltimore Orioles to beat the Boston Red Sox. Then, they needed to handle their own business and beat the AL East-winning New York Yankees.
Things did not start off well in either game as the Orioles, who came into the night with a 68-93 record, were down, 3-2, in the bottom of the ninth inning in a game that had been delayed 86 minutes by rain. Under the roof of Tropicana Field, the Yankees bounced ahead 7-0 through seven innings. With the game seemingly in hand, they took out a majority of their starters.
Baltimore took care of business first as Robert Andino looped a single off of Jonathan Papelbon that landed in front of Carl Crawford. The former Ray wasn’t able to throw out Nolan Reimold, who had tied the game with a double earlier in the inning, and the O’s had their biggest moral victory in seasons.
Meanwhile, the Rays climbed back into the game in the bottom of the eighth with Longoria blasting a three-run home run to make it 7-6. Dan Johnson tied it in the ninth, setting up Longoria to snake his game-winning home run over the low fence in left field. It happened roughly five minutes after Andino’s single ended the Orioles game.
Yes, the 2008 Rays had a ton of magic moments as they made it to the World Series, but the 2011 game was way more memorable.
Ronde Barber Pick Six in Philly
It was a clash between the league’s fourth-ranked offense in the Eagles, who had put up 415 points in the regular season, and the best defense in the league. The Bucs had allowed just 196 points all season long, a mark that bested the nearest team by almost 50 points.
It didn’t look great early as the Eagles scored early on Duce Staley’s 20-yard run. Shades of the previous two seasons where the Bucs lost in the wild card round to these very same Eagles loomed over the game. However, the long run would pretty much be the lone highlight for the home team. They only rushed for 60 more yards the rest of the night, and while they beat Tampa Bay in the yardage game 312 to 308, Philadelphia also turned the ball over three times.
A long catch and run by Joe Jurevicous late in the first quarter set up a Mike Alstott touchdown run to give the Bucs a 10-7 lead, and the defense pretty much took over from there. Still, despite the way the Bucs were playing, there was a sense that this game was far from over.
Yes, they were up 20-10 with three minutes left in the game, but this was the Bucs. A team that was 1-21 in cold weather games (the windchill at the start of the game was 16 degrees). A team that had been bounced by the Eagles two years in a row. A team that always managed to find a way to lose.
Ronde Barber’s interception put an end to all of that negativity. The best part was that he made it look so easy. The hall-of-famer ran the route better than receiver Antonio Freeman and Donovan McNabb’s pass hit Barber right in the chest. No one was catching him that night as he jogged down the field and into the end zone, silencing the Philadelphia crowd.
The Bucs would go to the Super Bowl in San Diego a few weeks later and demolish the Raiders to win their first Super Bowl and bury the Tampa Bay Yuks legacy forever. On the night, Barber had the interception, four passes defended, three solo tackles, three combo tackles, and one forced fumble as the Tampa Bay defense held the Eagles to a first-quarter touchdown and a second-quarter field goal.
Steven Stamkos 2:47
C’mon. Was there any doubt we’d go with this one?
Are there any you would rank above these three?
Hockey News
Dennis Hildeby looks forward to having “great fun” in Tampa Bay [Hockey Sverig]
We’re relying on Google Translate for the quote, but it looks like the new Lightning goaltender is looking forward to sharing the crease with Andrei Vasilevskiy. Tagged to be the team’s back-up this season, Hildeby told the website his role is to, “watch and learn, and take every chance I can to learn from him.”
Bellemare boosts Lightning development staff [Tampa Bay Lightning]
During our weekend sabbatical, the Lightning announced that the recently retired Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had joined the organization in a player development role. With over 700 games of NHL experience, he’ll be an excellent resource for the young Lightning players trying to find their role in the organization.
Syracuse Crunch 2026-27 schedule [Syracuse Crunch]
The Crunch kick off their season with three divisional road games before hosting the Belleville Senators on October 10. They have four three-games-in-three-days weekends this year, with three of them coming late in the season. It’s going to be another banger of a season in the AHL North.
Celebrini names IIHF Male Player of the Year [NHL.com]
It doesn’t have the cache of the Ted Lindsey or the Hart Trophy, but getting recognized as the top player by the sport’s international governing agency isn’t too shabby. The 20-year-old’s international play helped him edge out Connor Hellebuyck and Sebastian Aho for the honor. Celebrini had five goals and ten points for Team Canada at the Olympics and then added six goals and eight assists at the World Championship tournament in May.
Winners and Losers of the Leo Carlsson offer sheet drama [ESPN]
Are there really any losers in this deal? Yes, Pat Verbeek had his salary cap plan thrown in the woodchipper, but he was in a position to handle it. Cutter Gauthier, he might not be able to cash in just yet, but the restricted free agent should still end up with a healthy raise on his next contract, and then really cash in if he proves last year’s 41 goals wasn’t a fluke. Philly doesn’t get their star forward (just yet) but are still in shape to be pretty good next season.
*No way Evan Longoria is old enough to have his jersey retired. His rookie year happened like 5 years ago, right? Dang it. We’re old.
