Raul Ibanez and the Top 10 Walk-off Home Runs in Yankees History

In Game 3 of the American League Division Series Wednesday night, Raul Ibanez tied the game with a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against Baltimore Orioles closer Jim Johnson.

Ibanez wasn’t done yet.

He clobbered the first pitch from Oriole reliever Brian Matusz in the bottom of the 12th inning into the second deck in right field for the 212th walk-off home run in New York Yankee history in New York’s 3-2 victory.

Ibanez had been inserted into the game to hit for struggling Alex Rodriguez, the designated hitter on Wednesday. Rodriguez had been 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in Game 3 and is 1-for-12 with seven Ks in the series.

Not all walk-off home runs are created equally, of course, and here are the 10 biggest walk-off homers in Yankee history:

10. Alfonso Soriano, Oct. 21, 2001, Against Seattle Mariners

Rookie Alfonso Soriano helped break the backs of the Seattle Mariners in the 2001 American League Championship Series when he took Mariners closer Kazuhiro Sasaki deep to right-center field. Soriano’s two-run blast gave the Yankees a 3-1 win and a 3-1 lead in the series.

New York went on to eliminate the Mariners the following day, making Seattle’s major-league-record tying 116 wins merely a historical footnote.

9. Bernie Williams, Oct. 9, 1996, Against Baltimore Orioles

It was rookie Derek Jeter who made Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series memorable when he hit a solo home run to right field that got an assist from 12-year-old fan Jeffrey Maier, who reached over the wall to take the ball away from Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco.

But Jeter’s homer only tied the game. It was Bernie Williams who won it in the bottom of the 11th with a shot into the upper deck in left field off Randy Myers.

Williams went on to win MVP honors in the series, which the Yankees won in five games.

8. Mickey Mantle, Oct. 10, 1964, Against St. Louis Cardinals

The Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals were tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 1964 World Series when Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle hit reliever Barney Schultz’s first pitch into the right-field stands for a 2-1 victory.

The Cardinals got the last laugh, winning the series in seven games to spoil what would be the final World Series appearance of Mantle’s career. The homer off Schultz was the 16th of Mantle’s major-league record 18 home runs in World Series play. 

7. Chad Curtis, Oct. 26, 1999, Against Atlanta Braves

Making his only start of the 1999 World Series, Chad Curtis made Game 3 count, hitting a pair of home runs. His second shot was a 10th-inning blast off Mike Remlinger to give the Yankees a 6-5 victory and a 3-0 lead in the series.

It was the first World Series walk-off homer since Joe Carter had ended the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees would complete the sweep the following night behind the pitching of Roger Clemens.

6. Jim Leyritz, Oct. 4, 1995, Against Seattle Mariners

Jim Leyritz only had one hit in Game 2 of the 1995 American League Division Series but was it ever a big one.

Leyritz muscled a pitch from Tim Belcher through the rain drops in the bottom of the 15th inning to end a more than five-hour marathon. The Yankees’ 7-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners gave them a 2-0 lead in the series heading back to Seattle.

But the Mariners would win all three games at the Kingdome to eliminate the Yankees, making Game 2 of the series the final home game of Don Mattingly’s career.

5. Derek Jeter, Oct. 31, 2001, Against Arizona Diamondbacks

Derek Jeter hit the first November home run in major league history, taking a pitch from Byung-Hyun Kim deep to right field at 12:04 a.m. on Nov. 1 to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series.

Jeter’s 10th-inning blast tied the World Series at two games apiece. The Yankees would go on to win Game 5 at Yankee Stadium but lost Games 6 and 7 in Phoenix as the Diamondbacks won their first World Series title.

4. Raul Ibanez, Oct. 10, 2012, Against Baltimore Orioles

The walk-off homer by Raul Ibanez on Wednesday night has a chance to move up this list depending on how the rest of the postseason goes. But Ibanez earned a permanent spot in Yankee postseason lore with his two at-bats against the Baltimore Orioles in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

Ibanez came up to pinch-hit for Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the ninth inning and tied the game with a home run to right field off Orioles closer Jim Johnson. Leading off against Brian Matusz in the bottom of the 12th, Ibanez hit the first pitch of the inning into the upper deck in right field to send a packed house at Yankee Stadium into delirium.

According to this tweet from MLB.com, Ibanez became the first player in postseason history to hit two home runs in a game he did not start.

3. Tommy Henrich, Oct. 5, 1949, Against Brooklyn Dodgers

For all of the Yankees’ championships and walk-off heroics, it was Tommy Henrich who hit the first walk-off home run in franchise history when he took Don Newcombe deep to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 1949 World Series.

Henrich’s blast was the only run of the Yankees’ Game 1 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. New York also won Game 2 by a 1-0 count and went on to win the title under first-year manager Casey Stengel in five games.

2. Chris Chambliss, Oct. 14, 1976, Against Kansas City Royals

The Yankees were back in the postseason for the first time in 12 years, taking on the Kansas City Royals, making their first playoff appearance in the franchise’s eight-year history.

Chris Chambliss led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run to right-center field off Mark Littell to end the series to give the New York a dramatic 7-6, series-clinching victory.

Chambliss hit .524 in the series but had to navigate his way around the bases through fans who leaped onto the field after the home run left the park. 

1. Aaron Boone, Oct. 16, 2003, Against Boston Red Sox

Aaron Boone was only a Yankee for a few months but earned a permanent place in franchise history with a dramatic walk-off home run to clinch the 2003 American League Championship Series.

Boone led off the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7 by smashing a Tim Wakefield knuckleball down the left-field line for a 7-6 victory and another pennant.

Boone had come to New York at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline from the Cincinnati Reds for prospects Brandon Claussen and Charlie Manning. He was released the following February after hurting his knee playing pickup basketball. In between, he delivered the biggest walk-off home run in the long, storied history of the Yankees.