Raul Ibanez emerged from the home team dugout at Yankee Stadium around 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night, tasked with taking the place of a Yankee legend. He could have had no way of knowing he was about to become one himself.
Perhaps only the select members of one of the smallest fraternities in sports -- immortal Yankees-- can sense when one is about to join their ranks. And maybe that's why as Ibanez strode toward home plate to pinch-hit for Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Yankees two outs from a 2-1 loss, Mariano Rivera turned to the displaced A-Rod and said, "Tie game."
Such a prediction would seem outlandish if not for the fact that Rivera, the all-time saves leader and the greatest postseason closer of all time, knows a little something about October magic. Ibanez had certainly been doing his part to inspire such confidence, turning in a series of almost unbelievable performances in recent weeks, each more amazing than the last. On Sept. 22, he came off the bench and went 3-for-4 with two homers, including a two-run shot to tie the game in the 13th inning against the A's. On Oct. 2, he hit a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game against the Red Sox and then delivered the walk-off single in the 12th that kept the Yankees alone in first place in the AL East.
