"For the record, the custom-made batting gloves that Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria used to wear - the ones with Longoria's No. 3 stitched neatly into the side of them - were made by Nike.

"But I wear everything else Nike, too,'' Longoria said, "So I don't think they'll be too disappointed.''

Probably not. After all, since Longoria tossed those batting gloves aside a few days ago in Houston, he's been hitting a lot more like the slugger that companies like Nike seek to endorse.

He was until Monday, at least. Longoria went 0-for-3 during the Rays 5-0 loss to the Reds at Tropicana Field on Monday, but in his first 13 at-bats sans gloves, he was on a tear.

Longoria had produced eight hits, including three home runs and two doubles, and drive in 10 runs in those first 13 at-bats without the batting gloves, breaking out of a 4-for-37 slump.

Longoria's convinced, though, that going gloveless at the plate, which he continued to do during his three at-bats against the Reds, have little to do with his sudden resurgence.

"If you really want to break it down you should look at my swing,'' Longoria said. "That's where it really starts. Over the past week or week and a half, my swing has really gotten back to where it was, say in the middle of last year.''

With his gloves on last year, Longoria wound up hitting .294 with 22 home runs and 104 RBI. It wasn't until he dropped the gloves, though, that he started hitting at a clip like that this year.

That's why Longoria understands the sudden interest surrounding his change in batting attire. Still, he finds it a little comical that so much attention is being paid to his gloves and not his bat or swing.

"It's funny how that becomes the focus when something so little happens,'' he said. "But I guess the people look at the results and when you get results one way the focus becomes that.''

It has with Longoria. And it's easy to understand why. After all, there are only a few players left in baseball that currently don't wear batting gloves on at least one hand when they hit.

Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is one of them. Orioles designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero is another. Houston catcher J.R. Towles is in that group, too. And then there's Longoria, who wound up going gloveless, more or less by accident."