Career Stats
Regular Season
| Year | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 130 | 384 | 50 | 92 | 19 | 3 | 19 | 62 | 35 | 67 | 3 | .240 | .308 | .453 | .761 |
| Career | 130 | 384 | 50 | 92 | 19 | 3 | 19 | 62 | 35 | 67 | 3 | .240 | .303 | .453 | .756 |
Career-best seasons highlighted in gold. Stats via Retrosheet.
Postseason
| Year | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 8 | 22 | -- | 7 | -- | -- | 3 | 5 | -- | -- | -- | .318 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 8 | 22 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .318 | .318 | .727 | 1.045 |
Raul Ibanez was a left fielder who played for the New York Yankees in 2012. Career stats: .240 batting average, 19 home runs, 62 RBI.
Raul Ibanez only spent one season in pinstripes, and by the numbers alone, it barely registers -- a 39-year-old bench bat hitting .240 for a team that had plenty of better hitters. Then October happened, and Ibanez turned himself into one of the great short-stay legends in Yankees history. (Pete Sheehy could've dressed him a second locker for the ALDS alone.) If you want the play-by-play of the two-homer ALDS Game 3 masterpiece, that's its own story -- go read it here. This one's about the guy who made it happen.
A Career-Minimum Deal for a Career Year Nobody Saw Coming
The Yankees signed Ibanez in February 2012 to a one-year, $1.1 million contract, with incentives that could've pushed it toward $4 million if everything broke right. Nobody was projecting stardom. He was coming off a mediocre year in Philadelphia, he was 39 heading into the season, and the plan was straightforward: give left-handed pop off the bench, spell the DH spot, maybe start against a soft right-hander here and there. That's it. That's the whole scouting report the front office wrote in their heads.
He didn't blow that plan up during the regular season -- 130 games, .240/.308/.453, 19 homers, 62 RBI, numbers that are perfectly solid for a part-timer and not much more. Ibanez had spent 2011 fading in Philadelphia, and the Yankees weren't the only team who saw him as a role player at best. (Nobody was fighting over a 39-year-old outfielder that winter.) But buried in the second half were signs of what was coming: a game-tying homer in the 13th inning against Oakland in late September, then a huge night two games later that helped clinch the AL East on the final weekend. He was building toward something. Nobody just knew it yet, least of all the guy himself.
| 2012 Contract | 1 yr, $1.1M (up to $4M w/ incentives) |
| Games (NYY) | 130 |
| Batting Average | .240 |
| On-Base Percentage | .308 |
| Slugging Percentage | .453 |
| Home Runs | 19 |
| RBI | 62 |
| Postseason Average | .318 (8 G, 3 HR, 5 RBI) |
| Age in October 2012 | 40 |
The Month That Made Him Immortal
You already know the headline if you were alive and conscious in October 2012: pinch-hit for A-Rod, game-tying homer in the ninth, walk-off homer in the 12th, same game, same guy, still freakin' 40. Then three days later he did it again against Detroit, becoming the first player in baseball history to hit three homers in the ninth inning or later in a single postseason. A part-time DH outdid an entire era of superstars in about a week and a half. (Somewhere, a $30 million contract was quietly having an existential crisis.)
None of it saved the season -- the Tigers swept the ALCS, and Derek Jeter broke his ankle in the same game Ibanez tied in the ninth. But for one October, Ibanez was the most clutch player in baseball, full stop, and a $1.1 million contract turned into the best value signing of Brian Cashman's tenure.
Signs with the Yankees
Ibanez agrees to a one-year, $1.1 million deal (up to $4M with incentives) to serve as a left-handed bat off the bench and part-time DH.
13th-Inning Homer vs. Oakland
Down the stretch of the AL East race, Ibanez hits a game-tying homer in the 13th inning against the Athletics.
ALDS Game 3 Heroics
Enters as a pinch-hitter for Alex Rodriguez and ties the game with a ninth-inning homer, then stays in the game and wins it with a walk-off blast in the 12th -- two homers in a game he didn't start.
ALCS Game 1 History
Hits a game-tying two-run homer in the ninth against Detroit -- his third ninth-inning-or-later homer of the postseason, an MLB first.
Leaves for Seattle
Signs a one-year, $2.75 million deal with the Mariners, ending a single unforgettable season in the Bronx.
He didn't stick around. The Yankees moved slowly that winter, and Ibanez went back to Seattle, then finished his career with the Angels in 2014 -- 305 homers, 1,207 RBI, and a .272 average across 19 big-league seasons, none of it in pinstripes except that one stretch of October that outshined most of it. A career-minimum deal, and the best month of his life happened wearing the interlocking NY. That's the whole story, and honestly, it doesn't need embellishing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long did Raul Ibanez play for the Yankees?
Just one season, 2012. He signed a one-year deal that February and left as a free agent that December, but it's the single most memorable one-year stint in recent Yankees history.
What did Raul Ibanez do in the 2012 ALDS against Baltimore?
In Game 3, he pinch-hit for Alex Rodriguez, tied the game with a ninth-inning homer, then stayed in the game and won it with a walk-off homer in the 12th -- two homers in the same game, entering off the bench, at age 40.
What was Raul Ibanez's stat line with the Yankees in 2012?
He hit .240/.308/.453 with 19 home runs and 62 RBI over 130 games in the regular season, then went .318 with 3 homers and 5 RBI in 8 postseason games.
Did Raul Ibanez set any records with the Yankees?
Yes. He became the first player in MLB history to hit three home runs in the ninth inning or later during a single postseason, and hit two home runs in a single postseason game he didn't start.