Thank goodness for the Seattle Mariners, Raul Ibanez refused the temptation to loiter in the clubhouse dining room 10 years ago.
He realized early in his career that his hunger to improve as a ballplayer wasn’t satisfied by the postgame meal. His late-night inspiration was Edgar Martinez, not a plate full of pasta.
“A lot of times it would be after the game and I hadn’t even played that day, but I’d be going to the food room because the less you do, the hungrier you get,” Ibanez remembers. “I’d be walking into the food room and Edgar would be walking the other way, in his shorts, to the weight room. Before I put anything in my mouth I would turn around and go to the weight room, just because he would do it.
“I thought, he’s the best hitter in the game and he’s going to the weight room. My butt better be in there, too.”
Remember that the next time Ibanez has another week like last week, when he went on one of the best hitting tears of his career. He drove in 16 runs in a six-game span, hit a grand slam that helped beat the Twins and, on Thursday, belted a ninth-inning home run to beat the Rays.
Most of all, the Mariners should hope their young players are paying as much attention to Ibanez in 2008 as he paid to Martinez in 1998.
He has Edgar’s work ethic.
He has Edgar’s uncanny ability to ignore distractions.
And, for anyone is wise enough to follow, he has taken over Edgar’s place in the clubhouse as a role model.
“I used to watch everything Edgar did,” said Ibanez, the Mariners’ 36th-round draft pick in 1992. “Everything.”
What amazed Ibanez as much as Martinez’s ability to hit the baseball was the preparation, both physically and mentally, that unquestionably caused him to be so good.
“Edgar had incredible focus and intensity,” Ibanez said. “His whole objective was to get better and to be the exception and not the rule when it comes to how your career should progress. I really tried to take as much as I could from him.
“Sometimes we’d talk about it but most of the stuff I learned from him, I watched. It’s like how we learned from our parents. We didn’t listen to what they said, we did what they did.”
So Ibanez made like Edgar and, at age 36, is defying those who say he should be slowing down.
He never misses an opportunity to take extra batting practice. His daily routine includes work in the batting cage, the weight room, the video room.
“He’s dedicated to his trade,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “He’s at the top of the list at that.”
Are any of the current Mariners paying attention?
Second baseman Jose Lopez is. Those who’ve watched him be Ibanez’s shadow this year aren’t surprised that Lopez entered Friday’s game with the Mariners’ best batting average — .309 — and so far has eased the fears of another second-half swoon by hitting .358 since the All-Star break.
“He and Jose have a tremendous relationship, and Jose’s a workaholic,” said hitting coach Lee Elia. “Thank God for that.”
Ibanez has made a difference to infielder/outfielder Mike Morse, who has spent the past couple of years learning the real meaning of an offseason workout.
“I was used to working out with my friends and having a good time,” Morse said. “Working out with him, there’s always a meaning behind it. If he’s got one set to go, he will do two sets because he’s determined to get better. A lot of people don’t see that part of Raul, but I saw sweat, the hard work and determination he has for this game.”
Baseball will mess with a player’s focus. Ibanez doesn’t allow it, even during the offseason when it can be easy to coast through his workouts.
“We can have fun and joke around during the minute and a half or two-minute rest period, but once you’re there, it’s work for those three hours,” he said. “It’s really important for me to not do anything halfway. If you focus intently on what you’re doing, you have a greater chance of being successful.”
Ibanez credits sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman with helping establish that mindset, and also Edgar Martinez with showing him how to apply it.
“Edgar’s focus would border on insanity, which is OK,” Ibanez said.
Martinez would be so zoned-in on his preparation that he often wouldn’t realize what day it was or where the next road trip would be.
“I have that problem, too,” Ibanez said. “I do know that Sundays are day games. But yesterday, all day I thought it was Sunday.”
It was a day game, but it was Wednesday. And Ibanez went 2-for-4.
“One of the things Harvey Dorfman taught me was that it doesn’t matter where you go, it’s who you bring,” Ibanez said. “The other thing is don’t focus on things you can’t control.”
That never was more important than the past two weeks when Ibanez played his baseball of the season despite intense trade rumors involving him. The Toronto Blue Jays said they had a deal in place with the Mariners before an M’s executive rejected it.
Didn’t affect Ibanez, who batted .381 in the five games before the trade deadline, then .480 with three homers and 15 RBI in a six-game stretch entering this weekend.
“Maintaining your focus is easier said than done,” he said. “But somehow when you get here every day and you go right into your preparation for that day, that takes up all of your focus. That’s really all you want to do and that’s really all I focus on.”
Hopefully, others are paying attention.
Kirby Arnold covers the Mariners for The Herald
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
