Mariners Greatest Hits: The Left Fielder Raul Ibanez

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.