In 1992 Raul Ibanez was taken by the Mariners in the 36th round, the 1,006th player selected. The following year, with the first pick in the draft, Seattle grabbed a Miami schoolboy named Alex Rodriguez.
The two — the grinder and the chosen one — were teammates in the Single-A Midwest League for Appleton in 1994; Rodriguez on the fast track and Ibanez beginning a career like Aesop’s turtle, slow and steady. And last night for the first time in nearly two decades, Ibanez finally went ahead of Rodriguez — the choice anyone, notably Joe Girardi, has to make.
Three years older, his swing so much more alive than the leaden Rodriguez, Ibanez forced Girardi finally into the baseball nuclear option. He had to pinch hit for a player who simply had never been pinch-hit for in this kind of situation as a pro. Girardi had to tell the sixth-leading RBI man ever that, well, to use Rodriguez’s own words: It was time “to become a cheerleader.”
His team’s season on the line, Girardi had “to do what my stomach was telling me to do.” His eyes, also. Rodriguez simply cannot hit a righty these days, certainly not one with mid-90s heat of Baltimore closer Jim Johnson.
So Girardi could no longer worry about Rodriguez’s psyche or salary or status. Only the game. The Orioles led 2-1 heading to the ninth and if they held on they would have moved ahead two-to-one in this Division Series, put the Yanks on the brink of yet another first-round exit.
“You are going to be asked a lot of questions if it doesn’t work,” Girardi acknowledged.
It worked. On Monday to finalize a 3-2 Baltimore win in Game 2 that knotted this series, A-Rod swung through fastballs of 94, 94 and 96 mph from Johnson. At 1-0 with one out in the ninth yesterday, Johnson threw a 94 mph fastball. Ibanez destroyed it on a line to right for a game-tying homer. He would homer again off lefty Brian Matusz on the first pitch of the 12th inning.
Ibanez was a Legend of the Fall as the Yankees won 3-2. So they are one victory from advancing. Suddenly, the plot line is no longer going to be if A-Rod hits third. It is if he is going to start at all. He probably will today because Baltimore starts Joe Saunders, and Rodriguez can still hit lefties. But staying in late against a righty reliever or starting against a righty is no sure thing any longer.
Rodriguez is 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts in this series against righties. When A-Rod’s swing is off, hitting coach Kevin Long often cites a “disconnect” — that Rodriguez is not using his legs and upper body in synchronicity. That leaves him using mainly his arms, the swing growing long, slow and feeble; making him susceptible, particularly, to righties with even just good fastballs.
Rodriguez saw 15 pitches from Baltimore righty starter Miguel Gonzalez yesterday, 12 were fastballs, none above 92 mph, yet Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. That is why Girardi was thinking about hitting for A-Rod as early as the seventh inning, imagining the ninth-inning scenario that played out. The manager faced the fading star in the dugout and explained his position: You are scuffling, Ibanez is a low-ball hitter, Johnson a low-ball pitcher, the right-field porch beckons and we need a run.
Rodriguez told Girardi, “Joe you have to do what you have to do.” Rodriguez said he has matured in recent years, that this is all about the team. Thus, this was not akin to when Joe Torre dropped Rodriguez to eighth in Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS, putting a final schism into that manager-player relationship.
“I love Joe,” Rodriguez said. He meant Girardi, not Torre. But Rodriguez did say he absolutely expects to play tonight, remains fully confident he will stay aggressive and deliver big hits this postseason. So this bears watching, especially since A-Rod is signed for five more years and we might have seen the beginning of how he will be treated moving forward — not like a superstar any longer.
Heck, it is pretty easy to make a case that next time a righty starts against the Yanks that Eric Chavez (.908 OPS vs. righties) should play third, Ibanez (six homers since Sept. 22, five in games he didn’t start, all huge, huger, hugest) should DH and Rodriguez (no homers, one extra-base hit in his last 20 game) should be a cheerleader again.
At age 40 — nearly two decades after Appleton — Ibanez is clearly the better choice to hit in a big spot over Rodriguez. Girardi couldn’t ignore his gut or eyes any longer.