Mariners Greatest Hits: The Left Fielder Raul Ibanez

September 22nd, 2004

When a player bats .304 in a season, they are usually the best hitter on their team. However, in the case of the 2004 Mariners, Ibanez was not just the 2nd best hitter on the team, his play looked average compared to Ichiro.

During the 2004 season, Ichiro broke George Sisler’s single-season hit record with 262 knocks while having a .372 batting average which happens to be the 7th best in baseball since 1947.

But Ibanez was always a workhorse not looking for fame, he wanted to do whatever he could do help the team win.

In this late September game in 2004, he tried his very best. In attempting to do so, he would make team history, and be one of a few dozen players to reach this particular mark.

Facing the Los Angeles Angels on their home turf, Ibanez would have a perfect day at the plate, beating the would-be hitting champion and his teammate who went 4-6.

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With singles in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, Ibanez started the day 4-4 with three RBIs. He finished the day off with another two-RBI single in the 6th and capped off the day with his 6th base knock of the day in as many at-bats in the 8th inning.

He is the only player in Mariners history to record more than five hits in a single game, and that’s without looking at his 1.000 batting percentage. He also became one of 68 people in the history of the game to have at least six hits and a perfect batting average. Of those 68 men, only 17 others had five or more runs batted in during the same game.

When he started the game the next day with three consecutive hits, he also set the record for most hits in a row in team history with nine.

Suffice it to say, this was one of the best hitting displays in the franchise’s history and that the league has ever seen.

Our next pick continues with Ibanez’s hitting success.

June 22nd-July 12th, 2013

In his final season with the Mariners at age 41, Ibanez turned back the clock, hitting the ball with such ease like he had in his prime.

In these mid-summer days, Ibanez had many great outings. So, instead of covering just one of them, it makes sense to look at his amazing three-week stretch as one collective moment.

Regardless of age, what Ibanez did in this 17 game stretch was phenomenal.

He had seven multi-hit games, smacked 10 home runs, drove in 18 RBIs, scored 15 runs, and drew seven walks. All that success helped him reach an incredible batting average of .357 and an on-base percentage of .416.

Two of his best outings of that stretch both involved Ibanez hitting multiple home runs.

The 1st time he hit two home runs in this span of games, Ibanez went 2-4 and homered in his first two at-bats. His runs would help the Mariners win the tightly contested ballgame that would end 6-3 in the 10th on a walk-off homer by Kendrys Morales.

The 2nd time would be in the last game of this hot stretch. He would go 3-4 on this night with a RBI double, and two runs scored and two more RBIs off those two home runs.

Ibanez would hit multiple home runs only eight times in his 11 years with the Mariners, two would come in the midst of one of the hottest stretches of his career.

He hit as many multi-homer games in that short of a stretch in August six years earlier. That stretch from August 7th-August 20h was incredible, but ultimately, mostly because of his age at the time of the latter streak, was slightly less jaw-dropping.

June 11th, 2007

Before his 1st unbelievably hot streak in August of 2007, Ibanez was still having a great year. In fact, his game in mid-June two months before was arguably the greatest game he ever played in a Mariners uniform.

On this day, there was little that Ibanez didn’t do. From his many extra-base hits to his couple of long bombs to his timely clutch hitting, the Mariners were able to beat the Cleveland Indians on the road because of the Mariners left fielder.

His impact wasn’t felt until the 3rd, but it was felt strongly by the opposition. Up 1-0 at the time, Ibanez would smash his first of two home runs on this day to extend the lead to 3-0.

And then, in the very next frame, in his next at-bat, he gave the Indians another punch in the gut with his next home run.

In the 7th, Ibanez would hit a triple to right for his third knock of the game, but it wouldn’t amount to any Mariners runs. In the 9th, however, when Ibanez would have his next at-bat, he would hit the Indians with a knockout punch.

With pinch-runner, Willie Bloomquist, on first, Ibanez stepped to the plate with a chance to break the game’s 7-7 tie. With one swing of the bat, he drove the ball to right field away from the fielders giving Bloomquist enough time to sprint home.

The Mariners would win the game because of Ibanez’s double, 8-7. He would only be a single shy of hitting for the cycle, but that doesn’t diminish what he was able to do.

Next: All-Time Mariners Left Fielder

That’s what we chose as the best of Raul Ibanez’s time with the Mariners. Do you feel we missed a game? Let us know on Twitter at SodoMojoFS or in the comments section below.

Tomorrow we will be covering our final all-time roster spot with the DH.