Making Sense of What Happened



Yankees Raul Ibanez after his game-tying home run in the 9th inning of Orioles closer Jim Johnson



      After the Yankees Raul Ibanez’s improbable, unlikely, miraculous, heroic, herculean (can you tell I’m Impressed?) comeback against the Baltimore Orioles last night, like many, I tuned into the postgame press Conference to hear what Joe Girardi had to say regarding the gargantuan (can you also tell I read a thesaurus this morning?) intestinal fortitude it took to pinch-hit for Alex Rodriguez (and his 647 career home runs) in the 9th inning.


      Girardi, who always goes by his trusty binder (which by now has more pages than the Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”), decided to go against the grainand opted for Raul Ibanez. His reasoning for his decision was; “(Ibanez) being a great pinch hitter, and you’ve got a left-handed hitter who’s a low-ball hitter in a sense, and you’ve got a low-ball pitcher. I just kind of had a gut feeling.”

     Obviously Girardi was using code words that only the intelligent mind of yours truly could crack. What Joe really meant was “Even though Ibanez is a career .243 pinch hitter, he looks like a thin Buddha, so we rubbed his belly around the 6th inning. Plus, we’ve got a short porch in right and A-Rod is swinging so poorly right now he offered Granderson or Swisher $10,000 to look worse and I guess Grandy needed the money. Oh, and the gut feeling? It’s still the indigestion I get from drinking 6 months of the Andruw Jones Kool-aid.”

     All joking aside, the moves Girardi made in last night’s game were bold and put all possible ego’s to the back-burner. Each move was calculated based on the situation and what Girardi felt gave them the best chance to win. In a 20 minute span, he not only removed Alex Rodriguez for a pinch-hitter, but Derek Jeter as well! I don’t think there’s another manager in baseball that would’ve had the cojones (little Spanish lesson for you) to make those moves. Hell, I’m more surprised Jeter didn’t shank Girardi in the shower after the game for taking him out, than the Yankees actually winning.

     But, back to the postgame Press Conference about the toast of the town, Raul Ibanez; Girardi said that what Ibanez has done lately reminds him of Shane Spencer (which was in 1998, not 1996 Joe, get your facts right!) and the magic he had during that one legendary Autumn. That got me to thinking, is it remotely similar? The answer is….wait for it…..wait for it….NOPE!

     Shane Spencer was a flash in the pan, one hit wonder (a la Kevin Maas for all my older Millennial’s out there). What Spencer did during that September was amazing, but it pales in comparison to what Ibanez has done. Ibanez is a man who was so bad during Spring Training, the Yankees almost released him, but chose to hold onto him due to his veteran presence and hope that he would work things out. Good thing they did. Ibanez is also a man who was so bad during mid-August through mid-September (a 2 for 45 slump), people were begging for him to be designated for assignment and released (I admit, I was one of them). Good thing they didn’t.

     Shane Spencer hit 10 home runs and amassed 27 rbi during the month of September in 1998 (including a .286 average with 3 homers between the 7th and 9th innings) and then went on to bat .500 with 2 home runs during the ALDS against Texas. What’d Raul Ibanez do for the Yankees? Only come through in the clutch, what seems like every time he came to bat. The clutch numbers Ibanez has put up this season speak for themselves:

High Leverage Situations: .278 average, 7 home runs, 34 RBI

 “Late & Close” Situations: .286 average, 5 home runs, 17 RBI

During tie games: .311 average, 5 home runs, 17 RBI

Pinch hitting: .320 average, 2 home runs, 7 RBI

     Hitting in the clutch is what Raul Ibanez does! He did it against Oakland in that extra inning game when the Yankees came back from that huge deficit. He did it against Boston last week (twice in one game) and he did it again last night versus Baltimore (also twice in one game). In the 2009 World Series Raul Ibanez feasted on Yankee pitching batting over .300. This is why the Yankees signed him. To give a veteran player, who knows how to prepare, knows what it takes to win, and is the consummate teammate, a chance to shine for October glory.

      In a matter of 3 weeks, Raul Ibanez has replaced Raul Mondesi as the best player named Raul the Yankees have ever had. Did the Yankees ever expect Ibanez to have an impact like this? Of course not, nobody did, probably not even Raul (Mondesi and Ibanez). But, every Yankee player and fan alike are hoping the hits keep on coming. If Ibanez’s clutch hitting can somehow lead to the Yankees capturing a World Series Title, I’d expect his plaque to be erected in Monument Park on Opening Day next season and his number retired, never to be worn again. (I’m kidding, sort of)

     But tonight, or any other point during the 2012 Postseason, if the Yankees find themselves needing a big hit late in the game, Raul Ibanez is the man we hope is standing in the box.

     For 16 years, Derek Jeter was the individual you’d want up in that situation. Well, move over Captain Clutch. Colonel Clutch has arrived.

And we Salute you, Sir.

So does Nick Swisher.