“Where’d he go?” asked Evan Longoria, emerging from the clubhouse tunnel to the spot on the dugout steps where Frank Robinson had stood moments before. The 22-year-old Rays third baseman, in a disarming moment where big-leaguer had transformed back into star-struck fan, was starry-eyed during batting practice when he saw the 72-year-old Hall of Fame outfielder chatting nearby. In the dugout testing the grip on a new bat, Longoria had stealthily leaned in toward the small group conversing with the former Reds, Orioles and Indians outfielder until Robinson, sensing his presence, looked over his shoulder and smiled.

“I’m just listening,” Longoria grinned sheepishly.

When BP concluded a few minutes later, Longoria politely asked for an autograph and hustled into the clubhouse to find a clean ball, only to return unable to find Robinson. So Longoria hovered like a Little Leaguer outside the video room where Robinson supposedly retreated.

“He’s one of the greats of the game,” said Longoria, who’d still not gotten his autograph by game time. “I’ve seen him on ESPN classic and all that. It’s good to meet somebody like him. They don’t come around too often.”

- BRANT JAMES