Raul Ibanez: Of course.
The latest Phillies and baseball news from Philly.com.
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.
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
