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I noticed this stat in the tap article about PEDs. I'm pretty indifferent to steroid stories now but something else really caught my eye: Ibanez has knocked 20 homers this season. TWENTY! That's ridiculous. Ibanez has always been what you'd call a professional hitter; I've been following him since his days with Beltran in KC, but I didn't expect him to break out like this at 37. It's a great story. He's never really been in a very good lineup before between the Royals and Ms, and it's clear that he's found a perfect spot behind Rollins, Utley and Howard.

Isn't he hitting in a new park that's a hitters' park?

It's like looking at the Yankees and being surprised that three of them have 12 HR already (Teixeira has 18 and A-Rod has 8 already).

they talked about this today on PTI.... he apparently lashed out on a blogger who suggested he was on steroids.. I don't blame either party to be honest...

btw, tsherkin, what does "On Leave" really mean anyway

tsherkin wrote:Isn't he hitting in a new park that's a hitters' park?

It's like looking at the Yankees and being surprised that three of them have 12 HR already (Teixeira has 18 and A-Rod has 8 already).

Well it's not that new anymore but I'm not sure about Citizen Bank park, that may very well be a factor. Still it seems to me that being in a decent lineup is possibly the biggest factor. In Seattle the middle of the order was occupied far too often by the likes of Jose Vidro and Richie Sexon. In Kansas I guess they had a decent heart between him, Sweeney and Beltran but they never had any other hitters around them. I just think this is a great story for a consistently underrated player.

Who knows if he would have been so successful here, but Ibanez was firmly number two on my offseason free agent wish list, right behind Milton Bradley

tsherkin wrote:Isn't he hitting in a new park that's a hitters' park?

It's like looking at the Yankees and being surprised that three of them have 12 HR already (Teixeira has 18 and A-Rod has 8 already).

No, Ibanez is a beast and a terrific hitter.

http://www.drunkjaysfans.com/2009/06/cu ... -john.html

Interesting conversation about the legitimacy of a blogger speculating whether or not Ibanez is juiced.

It's a hot streak.

Unless he's on steroids. Then maybe it isn't a hot streak.