Raul Ibanez RUMORS & NEWS

Seattle Times "There come times in every game where one swing can decide the outcome, and this particular moment was staring Raul Ibanez in the face. And Ibanez, as he did so often in the home team's uniform here a year ago, settled this Wednesday night affair for the Mariners before his squad's pitcher even..." May 16

Seattle Times "Raul Ibanez speaks carefully on the topic of his .180 batting average, because he doesn't want to be misunderstood. He notes that it's far too early — 61 at-bats — to worry about numbers. One short hot streak will take care of that. "I've always hit, and I've always gone through stretches..." May 10

Seattle Times "When we told you back at the winter meetings that the Mariners were talking to Raul Ibanez, I did not think the team would sign both him and Jason Bay. But apparently, I was wrong. The Mariners just agreed to a one-year, major league deal with Ibanez. He will be looked at as an option in..." December 22

New York Post "Just last week, before 11-year-old Raul Ibanez Jr. left for school one morning, he convinced his dad to watch highlights of this year's American League Division Series Game 3 between the Yankees and Orioles. "I got goose bumps watching it," the elder Raul Ibanez told The Post Saturday in a..." November 19

New York Post "The Yankees hoped there would be a workout at the Stadium yesterday in preparation for Game 6 of the ALCS against the Tigers. Instead, they came back to empty their lockers and head home following a four-game sweep that ended in Detroit on Thursday. It also may have been the last time in The..." October 20

New York Post "The man criticized by some for making too many moves and by others for not making enough, made the boldest managerial move in Yankee history last night. Because Joe Girardi had the onions to pinch hit Raul Ibanez for Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning of Game 3 in the ALDS against the Orioles,..." October 11

Pinstriped Bible "Tonight the Yankees and the Presidential election will once again clash as the potential final game of the ALDS coincides with the debate between Vice-President Joe Biden and Mitt Romney's running mate Paul Ryan. As we saw in part one, the Yankees have had mixed luck in election years ...But then,..." October 11

Newark Star-Ledger "What was that noise? It sounded like relief, or perhaps a collective sigh of gratitude that 50,000 people make when they realize the manager finally heard their collective appeal. Or maybe it was a poignant riptide beneath the sneering contempt they have for the guy Joe Girardi was finally..." October 11

New York Daily News "In the kind of moment when great Yankees are supposed to stand up at Yankee Stadium, Alex Rodriguez sat down. Joe Girardi let Rodriguez bat No. 3 against the Orioles, all right, he did, watched him go 0-for-3, watched him strike out twice. Then Girardi sent 40-year-old Raul Ibanez up to hit..." October 11

New York Post "With apologies to Allen Iverson, the Yankees have their own version of "The Answer." His name is Raul Ibanez. Why didn't the Yankees try to bring back Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui last winter, after trading Jesus Montero? Ibanez is The Answer. Why can't the Yankees come from behind in the..." October 11

New York Post "As reporters approached Raul Ibanez's locker after the Yankees' heart-stopping 10-9, 14-inning roller coaster of a victory over the A's yesterday, clubhouse neighbor Ichiro Suzuki light heartedly asked him a quick question. "How do you do it?" The 40-year-old Ibanez was the Yankees' biggest..." September 23

New York Post "Johnny Damon was released by the Indians last week, not long after Hideki Matsui met the same fate with the Rays. Raul Ibanez, whom the Yankees signed instead of those two veterans, keeps on hitting. The 40-year-old homered in the fifth to pad a one-run lead and drove in two more with a..." August 06

New York Post "Raul Ibanez isn't so old that he doesn't forget the feeling he had in the back yard as a kid. "You play the game to get in that situation,'' Ibanez said of hitting with the bases full and the game on the line in the late innings. "When you play as a kid in the backyard, it's the bases loaded..." July 17

New York Daily News "The two teams with the most home runs in the majors came together Monday on a steamy, jet-streamy night in the Bronx. The result was an old-fashioned pitchers' duel — right up until Raul Ibanez won it, that is, in fittingly grand fashion. Each side went deep once en route to a low-scoring tie..." July 17

New York Post "When the Yankees signed Raul Ibanez, they believed he would be the designated hitter and possibly play a little in the outfield. Yet, because of Brett Gardner's strained right elbow that has him out since April 17, manager Joe Girardi has been forced to use Ibanez more in the field than..." May 27

New York Daily News "Raul Ibanez, the Yankees' left fielder, has taken a simple approach to his at-bats lately. "I'm not trying to do too much,'' he said. "I'm just trying to put the ball in play.'' The simplicity of that approach has made Ibanez one of the most dangerous hitters in the Yankees' lineup. Four of..." May 13

New York Daily News "It had been five days since Mariano Rivera suffered his season-ending knee injury, but the reality of it didn't sink in for Joe Girardi until Tuesday. The manager has grown accustomed to seeing Rivera convert quick, easy saves, but he watched new closer Dave Robertson walk the tightrope in the..." May 09

New York Post "Left fielder Brett Gardner may return to the Yankees tonight against the Rays after missing three weeks with an elbow injury. But if Raul Ibanez — a part-time outfielder and part-time DH — is going to have to vie for playing time, he sure made a compelling argument last night. Two of them, to be..." May 09

New York Daily News "The air at Camden Yards had the feeling of a crisp October night, but on the field it was most definitely of the early-April variety. It wasn't pretty, but the Yankees escaped with a 5-4 win over the Orioles in 12 innings on Raul Ibañez's game-winning double. The Yankees overcame five wild..." April 11

New York Post "It's a good thing CC Sabathia has big shoulders. When the Yankees ace takes the Camden Yards mound tonight, he'll essentially be working without a bullpen after manager Joe Girardi was forced to use six relievers to secure a 5-4 win over the Orioles in 12 innings last night, witnessed by a cold..." April 11

New York Post "Two-thirds of the Yankees' outfield limped toward the showers yesterday, and it had nothing to do with a third straight loss. Curtis Granderson and Raul Ibanez were victimized by foul balls off their right legs, problems they said weren't serious. "During my second at-bat I fouled a ball off..." April 09

New York Post "It was an ugly beginning to the Yankees' season, but at least Brian Cashman's $1.1 million wager got off to a promising start yesterday. A day after the general manager said he made a "bet" when he signed Raul Ibanez to be the team's new left-handed designated hitter following a subpar 2011..." April 07

New York Daily News "Raul Ibañez has had a brutal spring, but he slammed a two-run home run off Detroit's Max Scherzer Saturday, giving the veteran designated hitter a boost. "It's one at-bat, but the feel today was much better than it has been," said Ibañez, who is 3-for-40 (.075) this spring. "Today felt a lot..." March 25

New York Post "Andruw Jones has an idea of what Raul Ibanez is going through this spring training. "Last year, I probably had about three or four hits all spring," Jones said of his first season with the Yankees. "I wasn't happy about it, because you want to feel good, but I worked on some things and finally..." March 23

New York Post "The only thing that spends more time in a hitting cage than Raul Ibanez is the L-screen that protects the batting practice pitcher from getting drilled. The veteran left-handed hitter is in the cage before, during and after games, constantly tinkering with his swing. Thirteen games into his..." March 15

CSN Philly "After three seasons of pulling on Phillies red in the home clubhouse at Bright House Field, Raul Ibanez found himself changing into a Yankees uniform in the visiting clubhouse Saturday. "It's strange," he said. Strange, but still good. Ibanez, the Phillies' primary left fielder the last..." March 04

New York Post "All eyes were on the Yankees' young pitchers yesterday against the Phillies, but a veteran player making his debut in is going to have to come up big for the Yankees to get where they need to go this season. Raul Ibanez knocked in the Yankees' first run of the spring against major league..." March 04

New York Post "Like a lot of other Phillies, Raul Ibanez was powerless to stop Johnny Damon from stealing second and third on the same play in Game 4 of the 2009 World Series, which the Yankees won. Standing in left field as the play unfolded, Ibanez had a difficult time believing what he saw. "It was..." February 26

New York Post "He's got playoff experience and drives in runs, lots of runs, and that's why the Yankees signed free agent Raul Ibanez. "He's an RBI machine, first and foremost,'' hitting coach Kevin Long told The Post yesterday of the left-handed hitting Ibanez. Ibanez — who yesterday finalized a one-year,..." February 22

New York Post "The Yankees reached an agreement with Raul Ibanez yesterday on a one-year, $1.1 million contract plus incentives, pending a physical. Ibanez is being brought in to be the primary designated hitter against right-handed pitching. The Yankees were looking for four items, in particular, in this..." February 21

New York Daily News "The Yankees appear to be zeroing in on Raul Ibanez as the extra bat that Joe Girardi was pitching for last week. The Yankees are seeking a left-handed hitter and other possibilities have included Eric Chavez and ex-Yankees Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon. But Ibanez appears to be their best..." February 07

CSN Philly "Raul Ibanez nearly set a few records this season and they were all the dubious kind. Most notable, of course, was the epic 0-for-35 slump that lasted from April 18 through May 1. The streaky, 39-year-old veteran was one more out away from tying the franchise record held by none other than the..." October 02

CSN Philly "John Mayberry Jr. got another start in left field for the Phillies on Monday night as Raul Ibanez continued to recover from a left groin injury. "I thought about playing Raul," manager Charlie Manuel said before the game against the Cincinnati Reds. "But I talked to [head athletic trainer]..." August 30

Allentown Morning Call "There are days when Raul Ibanez has to be dragged out of the cage. He was like that at 29. He's still like that at 39. The left-hander is all about putting in the time, which sometimes in the end, means the spotlight is on him. That part makes him totally uncomfortable. Example:..." August 01

PhillyBurbs.com "The focus is clearly on the task at hand: Keeping their place at the top of the hierarchy of the National League and taking another ride down Broad Street at some point in late October. Still, you have to imagine that in the back of their minds, the countdown clock has already started ticking...." July 17

Philly.com "YOU ARE 39 years old. You have been hitting baseballs longer than some of your teammates have been driving cars, and you have been doing it at a damn high level. And then one day - poof. An 0-for-4 turns into an 0-for-8 turns into an 0-for-12. At first you are frustrated. Then you are lost. Then..." May 04

Philly.com "When Raul Ibanez's feet touched second base, he looked to third and saw Ryan Howard staring at him, clapping. He began to shed the batting gloves from the 38-year-old hands he has trusted for 16 major-league seasons, only to fail him for 35 straight at-bats. Washington shortstop Ian Desmond..." May 04

Philly.com "Ruben Amaro Jr.'s prescription for the Phillies' offense is simple. "Hits," the general manager said after his team improved to 15-6 despite riding a 13-game stretch in which they have failed to score more than four runs in any game. And he is confident that manager Charlie Manuel has enough..." April 25

MLB.com "Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino left Monday's game in the fifth inning after violently colliding with teammate Raul Ibanez. Victorino suffered a bruised left eye and a sore jaw, but otherwise is OK. Victorino and Ibanez pursued a fly ball in left-center field when they collided...." March 22

Philly.com "This is the time of year when managers like to move names around their lineup cards as if they were tiles on a Scrabble board. Spring training is a laboratory when they can play around with different formulations, trying to discover which ones are combustible, which are inert. It's a process..." March 16

Philly.com "The very thought made a 38-year-old man giddy. Spending his first winter in Philadelphia, Raul Ibanez was introduced to shoveling, facial hair, and bitter-cold runs. And he went sledding. "I jumped on one of those little sleds," Ibanez said, "and went down a hill. It's brilliant. Whoever..." February 21

Philly.com "The cell phone buzzes, and Steve Saunders glances at the text. Behind him, two members of the Eagles' offensive line grip dumbbells as polo-shirted trainers monitor their movements in a wall-length mirror. Ten miles away, across a river and a city and a snarled stretch of macadam, Raul Ibanez is..." February 16