Raúl Ibáñez

Infobox MLB player
name=Raúl Ibáñez

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width=300
position=Left fielder
team=Seattle Mariners
number=28
bats=Left
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1972|6|2
birthplace=city-state|New York City|New York
debutdate=August 1
debutyear=1996
debutteam=Seattle Mariners
statyear=2008 season
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.286
stat3label=Home runs
stat3value=182
stat4label=Runs batted in
stat4value=794
teams=
*Seattle Mariners (by|1996-by|2000)
*Kansas City Royals (by|2001-by|2003)
*Seattle Mariners (by|2004-present)

Raúl Javier Ibáñez (pronEng|ɨˈbɑːnjɛz) (born June 2, 1972 in New York, New York) is an outfielder and DH in Major League Baseball who plays for the Seattle Mariners. From mlby|1996 through mlby|2008, Ibánez has posted a .286 average with 182 home runs and 794 RBI in 1,384 games.

High school

Ibáñez played baseball for Miami Sunset Senior High.

Community college years

Ibáñez attended Miami-Dade Community College and was a student and a baseball letterman. In baseball, he was an All-Conference selection.

Professional career

Ibáñez was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 36th round of the by|1992 Major League Baseball Draft. Ibáñez played as a catcher and outfielder at three levels in the Mariners organization, including his first major league game in 1996. He was selected an All-Star in by|1994-by|1995 and he was honored by "Baseball America" as its Single-A All-Star catcher for 1995.

He was used primarily by the Mariners as a pinch-hitter and reserve catcher-outfielder. He was signed by the Kansas City Royals as a free agent before the mlby|2001 season.

Ibáñez finished his first year for the Royals with a .280 average and 54 RBI. He teamed with Mike Sweeney and Carlos Beltrán to become just the second trio in major league history to homer in the same three consecutive games. The only other teammates to accomplish the same feat were Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla and Larry Walker with Colorado in 1995.

After three seasons with the Royals, Ibánez returned to Seattle in mlby|2004 and had a career-high .304 batting average. He also collected a 24-game go-ahead RBI string, matched a club record by reaching base 11 consecutive times, set a career-high and a club record and matched the American League record with six hits, and joined Ichiro Suzuki as only Mariners ever with two five-hit games in one season.

With Edgar Martínez retired, Ibáñez moved to the DH spot before the mlby|2005 season. In 2005, Ibánez hit .280 with 20 home runs and 89 RBI.

The Mariners acquired the switch hitting designated hitter Carl Everett from the Chicago White Sox during the 2005 offseason, forcing Ibánez to move back to where he played before, namely left field.

Ibáñez enjoyed his most productive season with the Mariners in mlby|2006, when he collected career-highs in home runs (33), RBI (123), doubles (33) and triples (5), and hit .289 with 103 runs. In mlby|2003, he hit 18 homers with 90 RBI and hit .294 for the second straight season (179-for-608); led the team with 33 doubles, and was second with 157 games played, 95 runs and 90 RBI. He also posted career-highs in games, at-bats (608), runs, hits, walks (49) and stolen bases (10).

In mlby|2007, the Mariners acquired Jose Vidro to assume the role of DH. Ibáñez moved back out to left field and he finished the 2007 season with a .291 batting average. He was on fire in the 2nd half of the 2008 season, with 12 home runs and 55 RBI with a .321 batting average. He hit a walk-off home run against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 7 and was just on fire the week of August 4 through 10. He has the best average against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2008, batting .371. Ibanez also has one of the best career averages by an opposing player in Angel Stadium.

Ibáñez's at-bat music is "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon.

ee also

* Top 500 home run hitters of all time

External links

*baseballstats |mlb=116380 |espn=3504 |br=i/ibanera01 |fangraphs=607 |cube=I/Raul-Ibanez