Raul Ibanez leaves for birth of child

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NEW YORK -- Amid the champagne and beer being sprayed in the AL East champion New York Yankees clubhouse Wednesday night, Raul Ibanez fled the celebration.

He had a good reason, though -- his wife, Terryvette, went into labor with the couple's fifth child.

Ibanez, 40, left the clubhouse and immediately went to a local hospital to be with his wife. Ibanez did his part to deliver the Yankees to the AL East crown and the No. 1 seed in the American League.

On Tuesday, Ibanez hit a game-tying, ninth-inning homer and the game-winning, 12th-inning single. In the Yankees' 14-2 demolition of the Red Sox on Wednesday, Ibanez went 1-for-4.

Ibanez finished the season with a .240 average, 19 homers and 62 RBIs. He was signed primarily to handle the Yankees' DH duties, but with Brett Gardner missing most of the year, Ibanez spent time in the outfield.

In the playoffs, he likely will be the DH against right-handed pitching with Ichiro Suzuki playing left, Curtis Granderson in center and Nick Swisher in right.

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Andrew Marchand

ESPNNewYork.com

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Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years at the New York Post. Follow Andrew on Twitter »