By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Friday, April 22, 2011
TORONTO — The Rays waited on their plane for nearly 45 minutes late Thursday for third baseman Evan Longoria to have his passport, which he forgot at his Tampa apartment, brought to the airport.
Now they're waiting for Longoria to make it up to them.
"He probably owes somebody or all of us some kind of a meal or something," manager Joe Maddon said. "We'll figure out something. … There's got to be some kind of due punishment."
The feeling of knowing 50-plus people were waiting on him was uncomfortable; Longoria said, "It wasn't good."
And as if that didn't embarrass him enough, Longoria had to explain it publicly because left-hander David Price shared the news on Twitter. ("Tweeted it?" Longoria said to Price. "Really?")
Longoria, on the disabled list with a left oblique strain but traveling so he could work out with the team, said he forgot where they were going. "First road trip of the year into Toronto, I packed everything, I was up early, took my dog for a walk and just didn't even think about bringing my passport."
And he didn't think about it until asked as he boarded the charter flight.
"Thank God I'm not a rookie, because they would have just left me and said stay back and figure it out," he said.
Price, who is pushing for Longoria to buy him a designer shirt, had little sympathy: "That's the face of baseball. He's fine."
Marc Topkin, Times staff writer