"Evan Longoria heard the roar go through the Tropicana Field crowd. Odd, he thought, since nothing was really happening on the field other than his battle with Yankee pitcher Scott Proctor and even that wasn't particularly exciting.

Oh, yeah, the out-of-town scoreboard. It showed the Red Sox had just lost to the Orioles, meaning a Tampa Bay Rays victory would send them back to the playoffs as the American League wild-card.

At that point, Longoria said he just wanted to get on base, score the winning run.

Moments later, he was watching his line drive sail over the short fence down the left-field line for the home run that capped an incredible comeback in the final game of an improbable season."