The Evan Longoria Catch, Real or Staged?

Is Evan Longoria a Knight with No Armor?

Evan Longoria has no lack of female followers. After his latest act of heroism however, his legions of adoring fans no doubt have increased. Perhaps you’ve seen the Tampa Bay Rays third baseman saving a reporter from apparent injury, if not, we have it for you below.

For those of you who haven’t seen this, you are going to want to maximize your screen replay it a few times. The footage shows Longoria being interviewed while a hitter gets ready to swing in the background. Longoria and the reporter are stationed behind the first base cutout in foul ground when a drive off the hitter’s bat curves towards Longoria and the reporter. Longoria seems to hear the ball coming and turns around to catch the ball with his bare hand before it has a chance to possibly hit the reporter.

Some skeptics have hit the message boards hard already, suggesting this was a staged stunt. The immediate reactions from teammates in the background could be one giveaway. So could the lack of a station ID in the TV graphic. From experience, though, I have seen errant baseballs nearly strike an unsuspecting member of the media. So we are only left to speculate….