It's an Ibanez re-run

It's an Ibanez re-run

Ibanez drives in the tying run with a pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the ninth, then drives in the walk-off game winner in the bottom of the 12th. Haven't we seen this all before? Yup. Just a week ago. Ibanez followed the same script tonight that he acted out in game #161 of the season on October 2nd against the Red Sox.

Handy guy to have in reserve! He filled in for Brett Gardner against right-handers for much of the year, and then took over at DH against right-handers when A-Rod was out. When he wasn't starting, he was the best "10th man" in the game. His .453 slugging average was higher than A-Rod, Jeter, or Andrew Jones, and was close to everyone else on the team except Cano. If you convert his stats to full-time play, using Cano's 627 at-bats, he accumulated the equivalent of 31 homers, 101 RBI. Cano himself, one of the best hitters in the game, had 33 homers and 94 RBI in that same number of at bats.

So the Yanks almost got a spare Cano for a dinky $1 million contract this year!