Raul Ibanez certainly doesn't look like he's 41 years old. The Mariners OF/DH hit his ninth home run of June on Wednesday night, a deep fly ball to center right field in the sixth inning of Seattle's game against the Pirates.
Raul Ibanez homers again, on pace for record age-41 season
Ibanez has been on fire in June and has a chance to do something that no player in MLB history has ever done.
Otto Greule Jr
Ibanez now has 18 homers on the season and holds a chance to do something no player has ever done: Hit 30 home runs in a season after reaching 40 years old, according to NBCSports.com’s Hardball Talk.
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The closest to accomplishing that achievement was Ted Williams, who hit 29 home runs when he was 41 in 1960. Right now, Ibanez has already tied for the seventh-most home runs in a season by a 40+ year old.
The power surge is somewhat surprising for Ibanez. Though he has always had above-average power, the 18-year veteran has reached 30 home runs just twice in his career, most recently in 2009.
Ibanez has played in 58 of the Mariners 79 games this season. If he continues to appear in games at that rate, he will appear in roughly 61 more games this season. If his current home run pace continues, that would put him at 19 more homers on the year and give him a total of 37 home runs.
Even if Ibanez slows down slightly, he certainly has a fighting chance at reaching 30 long balls and achieving history.
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