Tommy White grew up dreaming about the kind of moment Evan Longoria delivered at Tropicana Field, and on Wednesday night he got his own version of it.
Playing his first big league series in his hometown of St. Petersburg, White blasted a solo homer in the third inning of the A’s 4-3 loss to the Rays, sending the ball to the right of the foul pole and just beyond the left-field wall. The blast landed in nearly the same spot as Longoria’s famous walk-off against the Yankees in the final game of the 2011 season, the one that clinched the American League Wild Card for Tampa Bay.
“The first thing I thought about when I rounded first on that home run was that I hit it in the same spot as Evan Longoria in Game 162,” White said. “It was like, ‘Holy cow, this is actually happening.’ It was really cool.”
The moment meant even more because of who was in the ballpark. A section beyond the A’s dugout was bought out by White’s father, Tom, and packed with friends and family wearing green and gold. The crowd let loose as soon as White’s ball left the bat, and White made sure they had plenty to cheer about.
He finished with three hits, giving him his 10th multi-hit game and his sixth game with three or more hits this season.
“My whole family came out,” White said. “They rented out a big section.
It was cool to be able to do some stuff in front of them. I know they were going crazy.
Really cool to be able to play in this stadium of my hometown team growing up. It’s definitely something I’ll remember for a long time.”
For White, the scene carried extra weight because Tropicana Field was where he first fell in love with the game. Before he became the college star known as “Tommy Tanks” at LSU, he and his family lived about 15 minutes from the ballpark and held season tickets for years in left field. From there, he watched Carl Crawford and soaked in the Rays games that shaped his childhood.
“I think of all the memories that my dad and I shared here,” White said. “I fell in love with the game in this stadium.”
The homer itself was a showcase of the bat-to-ball skill that has defined White since his July callup. Facing Rays starter Nick Martinez, he worked through a 10-pitch battle and fouled off seven pitches before finally getting a changeup on the inner half of the zone and driving it out for his third career home run.
“Big night for Tommy,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Getting him a start here at home, to have that type of night, I’m sure he and his whole section were pretty happy about that.”
White’s path to this point has been accelerated by necessity. The 2024 second-round Draft pick likely would not have been in the majors this season if not for the injuries that hit the A’s, including losses to stars such as Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson. Instead, he got the call earlier than expected and has made a solid case for himself, batting .259 in 46 games while splitting time between third base and first base.
“He’s done a nice job,” Kotsay said. “Any time a young player gets to the big leagues, there’s always a desire to go out and perform at your best to be able to stay here.
He’s handled it pretty nicely. He’s got a lot of work to do, which is great.
… I think this is only going to benefit him in the long run, especially going into next season.”
White also had to work through a setback earlier this month, when back tightness sidelined him for a week at the start of September. He said that issue is behind him now, and he feels ready for the final stretch.
“I feel like myself again,” White said. “I finally got my bat speed and feel at the plate back, so I’m super excited about that.”
In Other News...
As Young Core Showed Real Fight In Another Tight Loss
For a young club that keeps finding itself in tight games, Tuesdays 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay had plenty of the familiar ingredients: an early deficit, a measured response and just enough missed chances to leave Oakland empty-handed. The Rays built their edge with a string of doubles and leaned on their bullpen to protect it, while the Athletics kept hanging around long enough to make every inning feel like it could turn.
Oaklands fight showed up again in the middle of the lineup, where the power surge offered a glimpse of what this group can look like when it starts to click. The late push even threatened to flip the result in the final moments, but Tampa Bay found just enough to survive another one-run test and hand the As another loss that felt closer than the final margin. [Read more 🡒]
As May Have Seen Jeffrey Springs For The Last Time
Jeffrey Springs took the mound against the Rays on Sunday as the Athletics closed out a rough series in Tampa Bay, and the afternoon quickly turned into a reminder of how thin the margin can be in a matchup like this. Oakland fell 10-1, with Springs lasting 3 1/3 innings while the Rays kept pressure on from the start and Drew Rasmussen worked efficiently on the other side.
Lawrence Butler provided the lone bright spot for the As with a solo homer in the sixth, but by then the game had long since tilted away from Oakland. Springs has plenty of familiarity with Tampa Bay, which only added another layer to a start that felt important beyond the box score, even before the inning that sent him to the dugout early. [Read more 🡒]
A's GM Search Suddenly Carries Huge Stakes For The Next Rebuild
The Athletics search for a new general manager is starting to look like one of the most important decisions in the next phase of the rebuild. David Forsts replacement will inherit a franchise still sorting through its long-term direction, and the early candidate pool already mixes familiar names with executives who have spent years around roster construction, player evaluation and front-office strategy.
Among the reported candidates are former GMs James Click and Mike Rizzo, current As assistant GM Billy Owens, and Red Sox assistant GMs Mike Groopman and Taylor Smith. Groopman and Smith have both worked in Bostons roster-building and analytics departments, and each has been in the GM interview mix before, which gives Oakland a list that blends experience, internal continuity and the kind of outside perspective a rebuild often demands. [Read more 🡒]