Raul Ibanez: Of course.
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Raul Ibanez: Of course.
It was a Saturday in March and Raul Ibanez was optimistic because Raul Ibanez is always optimistic. Even when he lugged a hitless streak that lasted 35 excruciating at-bats. Even when he played through pain. Even when his swing failed him for months at a time because it always returned.
But now Ibanez was a Yankee, attempting to recall his happiest moment during three years in Philadelphia, and he was forlorn. He thought of an October 2009 night in the Bronx.
"That was my best memory and my worst memory," Ibanez said March 3. "My toughest memory was watching the Yankees celebrate out there. It felt so close that you could touch it."
Now he is a part of it; a real living part of the "mystique and aura" Yankees fans often invoke. He pinch-hit for a $275 million superstar and belted a home run to force extra innings. In the 12th inning, against a lefthanded pitcher nonetheless, Ibanez smashed the first pitch he saw.
He could finally touch the celebration.
It is, of course, not the party Ibanez ultimately craves. He has played in 1,947 games over 17 years for four teams and a World Series ring eludes his grasp. He is father to five children, the youngest born last week. He is grateful; eternally during his time in Philadelphia.
Ibanez will always have Wednesday night.
He was the oldest player in baseball history to hit a walk-off home run in postseason play. He was the first player to ever hit two home runs in a postseason game he did not start. He won over a fan base that questioned his presence as a 40-year-old platoon designated hitter.
There are eight men who hit 19 or more home runs with at least a .750 OPS while 40 years or older: Barry Bonds, Stan Musial, Harold Baines, Edgar Martinez, Darrell Evans, Dave Winfield, Hank Sauer and Raul Ibanez.
The short porch at Yankee Stadium was good to Ibanez in 2012. He hit .275 with an .895 OPS and 14 home runs in the Bronx. While on the road, those numbers dipped to .208, .634 and 5.
He batted only 65 times against lefty pitchers in 2012, his fewest since 2001 when he was an unproven 29-year-old outfielder in Kansas City. Joe Girardi used him strictly with the platoon advantage.
Before he hit a Brian Matusz cutter deep into the second deck of Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, Ibanez had not homered off a lefty in 442 days. That was at Citizens Bank Park on a Tuesday last July. It was a first-inning blast that scored Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino.
The Phillies won, 7-2, and traded for Hunter Pence three days later.
And Ibanez? He is 40 years old and not without faults. But the man can still hit a fastball.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Comments (63)
I always loved this guy. I felt so bad for him when his detractors said he was using steroids a few years ago. You could tell that really hurt his pride.— The Monk
So happy for Raul! When I saw the game winner last night, I shouted "are you kidding me!" out loud even though the wife and kids were in bed. I couldn't believe it. Not once but twice? I hope I remember that moment for a long time, even though I hate the Yankees. Raul is first class and deserves a moment like that.— vafan- Feel good for this class guy. Had one of the greatest post season games in MLB history. Announcer said to Raul last year they were booing you now they are going crazy.— Don w
- Damn yankees! Good for Raul though. Too bad Phils couldn't keep him for only a million.— P Even
- RAUUUUUL.— gho_matt
- Very happy for Raul. Always gave you 100%. Always hustled and was a better baserunner than his speed would indicate. A class act. He would be the only bright spot for me if the Yankees win it all.— John Klink
- see how a smart manager can get so much out of Ibanez knowing how/when to use him as opposed to Chollie who started Raul against lefties for 3 years in bad situations, then in 2010 NLCS had Francisco stike out againt righty on a couple of occasions with gamne on line instead of using Ibanez or other pinch-hitter... and note how Rube proves once again his amazing cluelessness thinking that Thome or Wigginton or Nix would do a better job than Ibanez as key pinch-hitter/back-up corner outfielder— warbiscuit
- note how Girardi pinch hit for the highest paid player and one of the greatest players in history..anyone imagine Chollie ever pinch hitting for the "great" Ryan Howard even when his chances against a tough lefty is miniscule compared to ARod's chances against a righty..in summary the Yanks have an intelligent front office and manager while the Phils have imbeciles— warbiscuit
- As much as I hate to agree with you. There is no scenario where Charlie Manuel EVER, EVER would pinch hit for Ryan Howard. That managerial move took huge baseballs. — foreclosure11
- Clueless Rube made the first of his 3 dozen bad mistakes to sign Ibanez to be a starting outfielder for 3 yrs/ $36 million, but he was just right to be a lefty off bench/platoon left-fielder for $1 to 2 million... Rube wasted more money on awful Wigginton, Nix, Thome, Schielholz, etc than he could have paid Ibanez, and Raul is actually still much superior fielder to butchers Pierre and Wigginton who cost several games with their atrotious non-fielding— warbiscuit
- Can't believe you have anything bad to say about Juan Pierre. He hit .310, stole over 30 bases, had a ton of sacrifice bunts, hustled every play, got to most balls hit his way. So he doesn't have a strong arm. What more do you want for $1M?? — foreclosure11
- Clueless Rube has zero abiity to evaluate potential and talent (gave away Vogelsong, Brandon Moss, Grilli for nothing while acquiring/re-signing Qualls, Schneider, Willis, Wigginton, Nix, Herndon, MArtinez,etc) ..Gillick brought low cost finds like Werth, Victorino, Romero, Eyre, etc while Cluless Rube thought that Wigginton and Nix were "improvements" as bench players over Ibanez... smart teams like A's and Orioles go to playoffs with low cost finds, while Rube overspent on washed-up former 'names', brought ZERO young talented players to Phils in 4 years and now the team is made up of 3 top players (Hamels, Ruiz and aging Lee), with the rest of organization mediocre or useless trash— warbiscuit
- You seriously consider Halladay "useless trash?" Utley is "useless trash"? Rollins is "useless trash"?(I know it's the popular thing to trash him but between his offense and defense he's still a top 5 SS. Papelbon? That right there show's the quality of your opinion. — birdsfaninnc
- Spot on warbiscuit about Chollie pinch hitting for Howard!! Instead of a HR it would have been strike 3 at a pitch 4 feet off the dish.— MrLincoln
- That was a great interview after the game! Raul deflecting individual praise and talking team first. It was time to move on from Raul and we all knew it but I appreciate his time here.— vafan
- .— The Monk
- Couldn't happen to a better guy. Wish it wasn't with the Yankees but I'm happy for him. Have to agree with the comments about Rube and Charlie.— OldCityJoe
- The Yankee pin strips look a little red this morning!— JourneyHome
- Rauuuuul.
Have no fear Phillies fans -- we have Mayberry (just as you insisted). Once again the bloggers struck.— 2smart4philly - Amen Warbiscuit, the younger Girardi is teaching Charlie again how to manage a ballclub. Charlie would have played Raul everyday and never in a millions year would have pinch hit for ARod. Girardi has stones. He even sat his good friend Jorge Posada, one of the greatest Yankees of all times, and used him only as a DH. That's a difference between a good manager and a puppet.— EL Zorro
- Girardi often doesn't rank high on so-called experts best managers lists but I've always liked him.
This was a great night for Ibnanez. I really would like almost any teams other than the Yankees to win the World Series except that I'd also like to see Raul get a ring before he retires. So maybe this year I root for the Yankees just a little. Just don't tell anyone.
— s - Girardi is a real talent. Was as a player and continues to show it as a manager- recall his days with the marlins! Still if Raul does not come thru- well then what?— jbcanoe
- So here's a question for Phillies fans who like class act players even after they leave: Assuming all other odds are equal, do you root for Ibanez or Thome to win a ring?— s
- The only talent Rube knows how to evaluate is the talent he gives away to teams that make the post season because of those players.— sonnybuoy01
Let me tell you guys something. When I heard Mike Leake would start game 4, I had no doubt The Giants would win the series vs. Reds. You're talking about a tough manager vs. a soft team (I think the Reds are kind of soft). Girardi, and Bochy, are heads and tails better than Manuel. These playoffs make me realize how much the Phillies fell this year. I am distressed. This was the "year of stupid" for the Phillies. Please, make it stop NOW.— road515- It's the catcher factor. I think ex-catchers often make good managers. Not all of course but you can find plenty. In the current crop of good managers add Scioscia to the list. In fitting fashion Posey hits a grand slam for SF. So who do we start with? Dutch, Lieberthal, or just go straight to Chooch? — s
- I skipped Boonie because he had his shot managing the Royals and Reds ... losing record overall. — s
- I'm sorry. Two game winning homers and two in one night? At his age? Needs to be tested now. I don't believe it.— kenkap
- 2smart4philly, the reason Raul had a decent season was because Girardi used him only as a DH and in a platoon situation. If you see his splits, he was pretty good at home and very mediocre on the road. There is a huge difference being a DH, where he had one 3 or 4 AB during the game a few times a week and not worry about playing defense. Charlie played Raul and Polanco to death. At the end they were on fumes and/or hurt. What Girardi did with Raul reminds me of what LaRussa did with Jaime Garcia, making sure he started as many games at home, especially during the playoffs. A question for the writers, do the Phillies have a stat guru? And if they do, does Charlie pay attention to the stats?— EL Zorro
- Girardi maximized the use of Ibanez pretty much to perfection. And how he used him is only possible with Raul moving to an AL team. You have to separate what Raul did last night from him leaving Philly. The two are only related in the sense that it was the right move for both parties. — s
- @foreclosrure11 -- actually you didn't say anything to contradict my one comment about Pierre being an awful fielder ... and I can point to several losses attributable to Pierre's inability to judge or catch balls and the worse throwing arm ever witnessed that gives opposing teams free runs... Ibanez was a below avg fielder, but generally kept balls in front of him to prevent the extra base, has a strong arm, and made a few surprising game-saving cathces every once in a while, and he played a fair amount of outfield (including right field) for Yanks this year without embarassing himself as much as Pierre or Wigginton— warbiscuit
- as for Pierre's offense, while he's useful off bench for occasional bunt or as pinch runner, he's a net liability because of his complete lack of power for an offensive position like left field...Phils had a better record without him in the lineup, and a competent g.m. could find another player who can bunt or steal a base off the bench than such a one-dimensional awful-fielding player --indeed one reason his batting avg was respectable is because he looked for every opportunity to take a sacrifice bunt instead of trying to get a hit, but very few of his sacrifices led to anything other than a meaningless out..as Ashburn insisted and any intelligent sabermetrician can tell you, sacrifices are generally not worth it becuase you give up free outs, prevent big innings and make sense only in a late tie or 1-run game with good clutch hitters coming up (which the Phils lack).. good hitting teams like Yanks and Cards and Nats hit behind the runner and try to move him while still swinging away and not giving up free outs— warbiscuit
- in 130 games played with Yanks, Ibanez played left field in 80, right field in 13 and had zero errors— warbiscuit
- Joe Torre was a catcher. Others: John Gibbons, Ned Yost, Bob Geren, Bob Melvin, Eric Wedge, Jim Leyland, Joe Maddon, John Russell, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra and Bob Brenly.— EL Zorro
- Tony Peña managed for a while. Keep an eye on Sandy Alomar Jr.— EL Zorro
- Raul was a total class act in Philly and still is in NY. Always gives
100 %. Congrats to one of the good guys. He can still play and hit.
Not easy to come off the bench cold before 50,000.
He did it on one of the biggest stages in sports, Yankee Stadium
in a playoff game when it meant something and they needed him the most. Does not get bigger than that. Congrats !!!
RAULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
— mdcasino - Good list El Zorro. I was thinking Torre and knew Leyland was a catcher but I never realized Maddon was also a catcher (minor league only it seems). A catcher has to bring his head to the game every day.
These division series games have been really good overall. More Phillies post-season karma now with Werth at the plate trying to keep the Nats alive. I still think they're going to regret the decision to shut Strasburg down.— s - Oh boy -- and Werth does it. They're all rubbing it in big time.— s
- So I guess I put some money on Thome now.— s
- told yeah…jason werth is missed in our line up….see what he just did today? No question he would be best addition but too expensive so go with Shane cheap— connorjr
- connorjr - No way would I have gone near the money the Nats gave Werth. I always liked what he showed at the plate tonight though. Taking a lot of pitches as usual. He was really good behind Howard. He'll never live up to that contract though. There are things he's done and said that make me think he may be a bit of a jerk personally but he was absolutely one of the best finds in recent Phillies years and a key part of the WS run.
I'm telling you, Thome's got to be next up in the ex-Phillies post-season show.— s - and Jayson Werth shows that what he can do too ...he has a huge amount of post-season hrs and was as responsible for Phils championship as any other player-- his replacement now is Mayberry? can all the ostriches admit that Clueless Rube destroyed, decimated, spindled and mutilated this team for nothing— warbiscuit
- They definitely have not replaced Werth. But you also weren't going to sign him for that ridiculous contract.
But to your HR point, his post-season numbers are huge: With tonight, 14 HRs in 48 post-season games. That translates to over 47 HRs in a regular 162 game season ... yet with the added pressure and better pitching of post-season games.— s - Werth has second-most post-season hrs in NL history, trailng only Pujols...but Cluelss Rube got Wigginton and Pierre and Nix, et al.— warbiscuit
- Wow, the ex Phillies are shinning, except Rolen who struck out to end the series for Cincy. Tonight is Thome's turn and tmorrow is Gio's, I guess.— EL Zorro
- Actually warbiscuit, Beltran is second with 13 NL playoffs HR to Albert's 14. Werth has 11, 13 overall.— EL Zorro
- It was about Nats overpaying to get a good player. 18 million for 7 years. Still Werth is a complete player offense, plus defense good speed good arm. Scary part Nats have 2 players who dont figure to crack starting lineup who would bring a great deal in trade. Reserve OF. Taylor Moore and minors infielder Rendon. Doubt Nats would trade with Phills who might have big interest in Rendon. Wahington also does not have many needs.— Don w
- Werth and Ibanez out..........in w/a bunch of has been's and never will be's.......— Northcountry
- one contract substantially worse than Werth's $18 million/yr is the $25 Million/yr for Howard...while Werth is still a legitimate 5-tool player who can contribute is a lot of ways, and makes his team better even when his individual stats are pedestrian --by working a pithcer, drawing walks, running the bases, playing good defense, etc, Howard is hardly more than a should-be platooning d.h...it's no coincidence that Nats started winning with Werth and that Phils have been awful since he left (but for the half year that Pence was hitting well in his stead)— warbiscuit
- another great example of who made this team what is once was...Gillick. Now having The Rube and Cholly running the show...well you know the rest.— sgamble077
- Raul I was a class act and he is exactly what he was in this game--a guy who is a poor fielder who bats .240-.260 and occasionally hits with power. Good for him!— Barneyboy
- @Zorro, meant that Werth has second-most post season hr's for any NL player per MLB network— warbiscuit
- Thrilled for Raul! What a game for him.— sfrankln25
- @s - Thome. Only because he's not on the Yankees.— cloudkitt
- Raul had an 8 year run where he averaged over 290 25 HRs and over 90 RBIs. You need to call him 240 hitter fine. Now has one of MLBs greatest post season games on resume.— Don w
- i totally agree re: pinch hitting for Howard. like Charlie, but he sticks by his players (and payroll) too much at times.— righty
- i totally agree re: pinch hitting for Howard. like Charlie, but he sticks by his players (and payroll) too much at times.— righty
- Good karma for Raul. There are only 2 Phillies shirts I would ever consider buying, one was Raul and the other Carlos. It was worth watching the hated Yankee's just to see Raul with his key HR's and the smile on his face. No one has a work ethic and attitude like Raul, not even Doc. Wish you were still a Phillie Raul!— dogman5
- I am Happy for Raul!! I never wanted to see him leave Philly...good luck Raul....— bagman111
- Good guy. Good player. Good coach potential.— mmds
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