Benny Agbayani

Infobox MLB retired
name=Benny Agbayani
position=Outfielder


bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1971|12|28
debutdate=June 17
debutyear=1998
debutteam=New York Mets
finaldate=September 29
finalyear=2002
finalteam=Boston Red Sox
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.274
stat2label=HR
stat2value=39
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=156
teams=
*New York Mets (by|1998-by|2001)
*Colorado Rockies (by|2002)
*Boston Red Sox (by|2002)
*Chiba Lotte Marines (by|2004-present)
highlights=
*Appeared in the 2000 World Series with the New York Mets
*Asia Series MVP, by|2005

Benny Agbayani (born December 28, 1971) is a professional baseball player who played with the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii of Filipino and Samoan parents [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1154553/bio] , where he attended Saint Louis School and Hawaii Pacific University. He also attended Oregon Institute of Technology. He currently plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan.

Minor Leagues

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, by|1993. He became a local star at the AAA minor league team, the Norfolk Tides. He has since been part of the Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, and Kansas City Royals organizations. He last played for the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese Pacific league. He has recently been spotted training with the Midland Rock Hounds. He plans to play in the World Classic for China.

New York Mets

Agbayani made his Major League debut with the New York Mets on June 17, by|1998 as part of an 8th inning double-switch in which he defensively replaced right fielder Butch Huskey during a 5-4 loss to the Montreal Expos. He made his first start and picked up his first big league hit on June 19. Agbayani led off the bottom fo the first inning by singling to second base off Florida Marlins pitcher Brian Meadows.

On August 12, by|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, the 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. [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B08120NYN2000.htm]

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, he 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. Agbayani also drove in the winning run in the only game the Mets won in the 2000 World Series.

Colorado Rockies

On January 21, by|2002, Agbayani was one of 10-player, three-team trade between the Mets, Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers, that sent him from New York to Colorado. He struggled in 48 games with the Rockies, hitting .205 with four home runs and 19 RBI in 48 games before he was placed on waivers in late August.

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox selected Agbayni off waivers from the Rockies on August 26, 2002 as the club made a drive for the playoffs. He played relatively well down the stretch, hitting .297 and driving in eight runs in 37 at bats over 13 games with Boston.

In his final MLB game, September 29, Agbayani went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout as the Red Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Fenway Park.

Nippon Professional Baseball

On October 26, by|2005, Agbayani and the Chiba Lotte Marines swept the Hanshin Tigers in 4 games during theJapan 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.

Career, Achievements and 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.
*Hit 10 home runs in his first 70 Major League at-bats
*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 as well as "Benny and the Mets", a parody of Elton John's Benny and the Jets.
*Agbayni is banned from joining the MLBPA as a result of his participation in 1995 spring training.

External links

*Benny Agbayani's published autobiography, [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0970578733 "Big League Survivor"] with Shayne Fujii. ISBN 0-9705787-3-3
* [http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=207 Baseball Reference] minor league statistics
* [http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/historical/mlb_player_locator_results.jsp?playerLocator=Agbayani MLB] historical statistics
* Japanese career statistics and player information at [http://www.japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=1799 JapaneseBaseball.com]