Benny Agbayani

Benny Agbayani (born December 28, 1971) is a professional baseball player. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii of Filipino parents, where he attended Saint Louis School and Hawaii Pacific University. He also attended Oregon Institute of Technology.

Career

Major League Baseball

He was originally drafted by the California Angels but did not sign. Agbayani was later drafted in the 30th round by the New York Mets on June 3, 1993. He has since been part of the Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, and Kansas City Royals ball clubs. Currently, he plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese Pacific league. On August 12, 2000 while a member of the Mets, Agbayani was involved in a particularly memorable play. In the fourth inning, with the Mets leading 1-0, the Giants loaded the bases after a double, an error, and a hit batsman. With one out, Giants catcher Bobby Estalella hit a fly pop to Agbayani in left field. Agbayani, thinking that the catch made three outs, gave the ball to a child in the stands and began to trot toward the dugout. It took him a moment to realize his mistake, but once he did, he sprinted back to the stands, pulled the ball from the hands of the young fan he had given it to, and fired a throw toward home plate. Unfortunately for Agbayani, once the ball left the field, play was dead, and all three runners were awarded two bases -- causing Jeff Kent and Ellis Burks to score, and the Giants to take the lead, 2-1. The Mets went on to win the game, 3-2, and Agbayani gave another ball to the fan who had given the previous one back. [1] Agbayani is also fondly remembered by Mets fans for two clutch home runs hit during the 2000 season. On March 30, his 11th inning Grand Slam against the Chicago Cubs gave the Mets their first win of the season, and a split in the two game series the Mets and Cubs had played in Tokyo, Japan. Later that year, on October 7, Agbayani hit a game-winning home run in the 13th inning of Game 3 of the National League Division Series against Aaron Fultz of the Giants. Benny also drove in the winning run in the only game the Mets won in the 2000 World Series. In five Major-League seasons, Agbayani compiled a career batting average of .274 with a career slugging percentage of .445 with 39 home runs and 156 RBI in 383 games. He is a 1989 inductee of Hawaii's athletic Hall of Honor. Despite having only limited and occasional success in the bigs, Agbayani was a popular figure with fans, particular in New York, where his successes were often met with "Benny, Benny!" chants.

Nippon Professional Baseball

On October 26, 2005, Agbayani and the Chiba Lotte Marines swept the Hanshin Tigers in 4 games during the Japan Series. This was the Marines' first title in 31 years. On November 13, 2005, they won the Asia series after defeating the champions of Korea, China, and Taiwan, and Agbayani was named MVP. Agbayani's manager with Chiba Lotte was his manager with the Mets, Bobby Valentine.

Trivia

• Agbayani is one of four known players in Major League Baseball history from the Philippines, either by birth, citizenship, or heritage. The other three are: Bobby Balcena (1956 Cincinnati Reds), Bobby Chouinard (1996 Oakland Athletics, 1998 Milwaukee Brewers, 1998-1999 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2000-2001 Colorado Rockies), and Chris Aguila (2004-2006 Florida Marlins)
• Appeared on the Howard Stern radio show around the time the Mets faced the Yankees in the 2000 World Series. He predicted the Mets would win the series - they did not.
• Went by the nickname of Hawaiian Punch during his tenure with the Mets.

See also

• Boston Red Sox all-time roster
• Colorado Rockies all-time roster

External links

• Benny Agbayani's published autobiography, Big League Survivor with Shayne Fujii. ISBN 0-9705787-3-3
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference