Tracking Raul Ibanez and history

By Gary Hill

Raul Ibanez smacked his 13th home run of the season Tuesday night to help the Mariners vanquish the Astros 4-0. Ibanez has homered two games in a row and has moved into a tie for 10th in the American League in homers.

Ibanez is already well establish in Mariners history. He has played more games (1,031) in an M’s uniform than all but seven players. He is seventh in club history in home runs (140), eighth in hits (1,005), eighth in runs (508), seventh in doubles (202), seventh in RBIs (579) and eighth in walks (335). He also has homered more times at Safeco Field than anyone else (74).

Ibanez has his sights set on some baseball history as well. Tuesday night marked just the 41st time in baseball history that a player in his 40th-or-older season hit 13 or more homers. Only 13 players in their 40-or-older season have swatted 20 or more in a single campaign.

Darrell Evans (40), 1987: 34
Ted Williams (41), 1960: 29
Barry Bonds (42), 2007: 28
Barry Bonds (41), 2006: 26
Dave Winfield (40), 1992: 26
Hank Sauer (40), 1957: 26
Harold Baines (40), 1999: 25
Edgar Martinez (40), 2003: 24
Eddie Murray (40), 1996: 22
Darrell Evans (41), 1988: 22
Craig Biggio (40), 2006: 21
Dave Winfield (41), 1993: 21
Hank Aaron (40), 1974: 20

With two-thirds of the season remaining, Ibanez has a good chance to join this exclusive group. He has already propelled himself into the elite group of homer-run hitters over the age of 40.

*These are homers actually hit at 40 years old or older and not simply a 40-year-old season or older.

Barry Bonds, 78
Carlton Fisk, 72
Darrell Evans, 65
Dave Winfield, 59
Carl Yastrzemski, 49
Stan Musial, 46
Ted Williams, 44
Hank Aaron, 42
Graig Nettles, 40
Hank Sauer, 39
Edgar Martinez, 36
Harold Baines, 36
Julio Franco, 32
Rickey Henderson, 31
Craig Biggio, 31
Andres Galarraga, 31
Jim Thome, 30
Willie McCovey, 28
Brian Downing, 27
Reggie Jackson, 26
Eddie Murray, 25
Matt Stairs, 24
Raul Ibanez, 23
Willie Mays, 20
Tony Perez, 20
Jason Giambi, 20
Bob Thurman, 17