October 10, 2012: The Raúl Ibañez Game

October 10, 2012: Game 3 of the American League Division Series, at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees come from 2-1 down in the bottom of the 9th when Raúl Ibañez, pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriguez, hits a home run. He hits another in the 12th, and the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2.

This remains the most recent postseason walkoff homer by a Yankee -- the 12th overall. Ibañez remains the only player in the history of postseason baseball to hit two home runs in a game he did not start.

David Robertson became the winning pitcher, in relief of Hiroki Kuroda. Ryan Flaherty and Manny Machado had homered for the Orioles.

The next night, though, the Orioles beat the Yankees in 13 innings, to send the ALDS to a deciding Game 5. Jim Thome appeared in that Game 4, but not in Game 5, so it was the last game of a career that saw him hit 612 home runs.

An RBI single by Ibañez opened the scoring in the 5th inning, and CC Sabathia went the distance, working out of a jam in the 8th. The Yankees won, 3-1, and advance to the AL Championship Series.

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October 10, 2012 was a Tuesday. Game 4 of the other ALDS was played, and it was also a thriller that ended with a walkoff, as the Oakland Athletics scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th, including an RBI single by Covelli "Coco" Crisp, to beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum (then known as the O.co Coliseum). But the Tigers won Game 5, and then swept the Yankees in the ALCS.

In the National League Division Series, for the 1st time in 79 years, a postseason MLB game was played in Washington, D.C. But it went badly for the home team: Chris Carpenter pitched a 7-hit shutout, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals, 8-0 in Game 3. The Cards won the series in Game 5.

At Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, the San Francisco Giants won Game 4 of the other NLDS, beating the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3. The Giants won the series the next day, then beat the Cards in the NLCS, and swept the Tigers in the World Series.

Baseball was the only sport in play that day: Football was in midweek, the NBA season was 20 days away, and the NHL team owners had locked the players out. The season wouldn't start until January 19, 2013.