Raúl Javier Ibañez (; born June 2, 1972) is an American former professional baseball left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) now serving as vice president of baseball development and special projects for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played 11 of his 19 big league seasons for the Seattle Mariners, while also playing for the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. While primarily a left fielder, Ibañez often saw considerable time as a designated hitter (DH) throughout his career.
An All-Star in 2009, Ibañez won the Player of the Week Award five times. Despite not reaching 500 plate appearances in a single season until the age of 30, Ibañez batted .272 with 424 doubles, 305 home runs and 1,207 runs batted in (RBI) over nineteen major league seasons. He had eight seasons with at least 20 home runs, two seasons with at least 30 home runs, six seasons with at least 90 RBI, four seasons with at least 100 RBI, and ten consecutive seasons (2002–2011) with at least 30 doubles. In 2004, Ibañez tied an American League record with six hits in one game.
Early life and amateur and college
Ibañez's parents emigrated from Cuba to New York in 1970. His father, Juan Armando, who was a chemist in Cuba, worked in a warehouse in the United States. Ibañez attended Miami Sunset Senior High School, where he played on the baseball team as a catcher. Fredi González, who worked at the school as a security guard during the minor league baseball offseason, worked with Ibañez on catching. After graduation, he attended Miami-Dade Community College, and was a baseball letterman and an All-Conference selection.
Professional career (1992–2014)
Draft and Minor Leagues (1992–96)
Ibañez was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 36th round of the 1992 Major League Baseball draft. Ibañez played as a catcher and outfielder at various levels in the Mariners minor league organization. He began his professional career with the rookie-level AZL Mariners in 1992. Ibañez batted .308 with 37 hits, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, and 16 RBIs in 33 games that season. The next season, 1993, Ibañez split the season between the Class-A Short-Season Bellingham Mariners, and the Class-A Appleton Foxes. He batted a combined .278 with 81 hits, 14 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, and 36 RBIs in 95 games. Ibañez played for the Class-A Appleton Foxes again in 1994, and batted .312 with 102 hits, 30 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases in 91 games. That season, Ibañez led the team in RBIs, and doubles.
In 1995, Ibañez was promoted to the Class-A Advanced Riverside Pilots of the California League. He batted .332 with 120 hits, 23 doubles, 9 triples, 20 home runs, and 108 RBIs in 95 games. Ibañez was second in the league in RBIs, and was tied for seventh in the league in home runs. Ibañez played for two minor league teams in 1996. He started the season with the Double-A Port City Roosters where he batted .368 with 28 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, and 13 RBIs in 19 games. He was later promoted to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers where he batted .284 with 115 hits, 20 doubles, 3 triples, 11 home runs, and 47 RBIs in 111 games.
On August 1, 1996, after being called up from the minor leagues, Ibañez made his first major league appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers. That season, Ibañez appeared in four games and went hitless. In 1997, Ibañez began the season in the minor leagues with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. He batted .304 with 133 hits, 30 doubles, 3 triples, 15 home runs, 82 RBIs in 111 games. On August 10, Ibañez made his first appearance of the season in the majors against the Chicago White Sox. He got his first major league hit, a triple, on August 16 against White Sox's pitcher Doug Drabek. On September 27, Ibañez hit his first major league home run against the Oakland Athletics' pitcher Mike Oquist. After 11 games in the majors, Ibañez batted .154 with 4 hits, 1 triple, 1 home run, and 4 RBIs.
Ibañez started the 1998 season with the Triple-A Rainiers and batted .216 with 41 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, and 25 RBIs in 52 games. Ibañez was called up in August to the majors and batted .255 with 25 hits, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, and 12 RBIs in 37 games. Ibañez played the majority of the 1999 season with the Mariners, however, he did spend 8 games with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers and batted .335 with 11 hits. In 1999 with the Mariners, Ibañez batted .254 with 54 hits, 7 doubles, 9 home runs, and 27 RBIs in 87 games. Ibañez hit the first grand slam home run in Safeco Field history, at the park's third-ever game. In 2000, Ibañez again split the season between the Mariners and the Triple-A Rainiers. With the Rainiers, Ibañez batted .250 with 10 hits, 4 doubles, and 6 home runs in 10 games. Ibañez appeared in 92 regular season games with the Mariners in 2000. He batted .229 with 32 hits, 8 doubles, 2 home runs, and 15 RBIs. Ibañez appeared in three games in the 2000 American League Division Series and in 8 at-bats got 3 hits. During the next round of the playoffs, the 2000 American League Championship Series, Ibañez appeared in six games and went hitless. He became a free agent after the season.
Ibañez was signed by the Kansas City Royals as a free agent before the 2001 season. In 2001 with the Royals, Ibañez batted .280 with 78 hits, 11 doubles, 5 triples, 13 home runs, and 54 RBIs in 104 games. He also played with the Triple-A Omaha Royals for 8 games and batted .148 with 4 hits. The next season, 2002, Ibañez played the entire season in the majors for the first time in his career. On June 9, Ibañez hit a walk-off home run against St. Louis Cardinals' pitcher Mike Timlin to give the Royals a three-to-two win. On June 26, Ibañez hit a double, triple, and a home run in the same game against the Detroit Tigers. About the opportunity to play everyday, Ibañez said this:
[During my career], my confidence sometimes wavered because I wasn't playing as much. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform. But I knew if I got an opportunity to play consistently then I would be able to perform.
At the end of 2002, Ibañez batted .294 with 146 hits, 37 doubles, 6 triples, 24 home runs, and 103 RBIs in 137 games. His 6 triples stood as his career high. Ibañez was second on the team in doubles, and RBIs; and was tied for second in triples, and home runs. Ibañez received the Joe Burke Special Achievement Award as voted upon by the Kansas City, Missouri chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Before the start of the 2003 season, Ibañez filed for salary arbitration. The Royals avoided arbitration hearings with Ibañez after he accepted their one-year $3 million contract offer. In 157 games with the Royals, Ibañez batted .294 with 179 hits, 33 doubles, 5 triples, 18 home runs, and 90 RBIs.
Second stint with Mariners (2004–08)
After three seasons with the Royals, Ibañez returned to Seattle in 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. He also ranked third among qualifying big league left fielders in UZR, an all-inclusive fielding statistic.
With Edgar Martínez retired, Ibañez moved to the DH spot before the 2005 season. In 2005, Ibañez hit .280 with 20 home runs and 89 RBIs. The Mariners acquired the switch hitting designated hitter Carl Everett from the Chicago White Sox during the 2005 offseason, forcing Ibañez to move back to where he played before, namely left field. Ibañez enjoyed his most productive season with the Mariners in 2006, when he collected career-highs in home runs (33), RBIs (123), doubles (33) and triples (5), and hit .289 with 103 runs. In 2007, the Mariners acquired José Vidro to assume the role of DH. Ibañez moved back out to left field and posted a .291 batting average with 21 home runs, 105 RBI, 80 runs and 35 doubles in 149 games. Ibañez hit 12 home runs and 55 RBIs with a .321 batting average in the second half of the 2008 season. He finished the season with a .293 batting average, 23 home runs, 110 RBI, 85 runs and a career-high 43 doubles by playing 162 games that year.