"J.P. Howell has some uncles who live in California and watch the Rays on TV as often as possible. These guys played baseball back in their day. They pitched. They hit. They went after grounders and fly balls.

They love watching Evan Longoria and David Price. They tell their nephew Longoria and Price make them feel like they can still play.

"My uncles say Longo and Price make it look so easy. They watch me pitch and say it looks really hard," Howell said. "That's the difference. I make it look hard, they make it look easy."

Carl Crawford and Carlos Peña used to be the cornerstones of the Rays, the heart and soul of the organization. And despite the team signing Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez as free agents, make no mistake, Longoria and Price are the faces of the franchise.

Longoria has been making it look easy since he arrived early in the 2008 season. He's never missed an All-Star game, and was voted by the fans to start the past two. He's won two Gold Gloves for his work at third base. He hits long home runs and drives in more than 100 runs a season.

Price has made it look easy since he arrived near the end of the 2008 season. He handled the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series that October like he'd been pitching in the postseason glare for years, getting the final outs in Game 7 to nail down the biggest win in franchise history."