Thursday, July 9, 1998
Associated Press
Benny Agbayani of the New York Mets and Niela Guigui
Agbayani leave the field after being married before
the Triple-A All-Star Game.
Agbayani wedding
Associated Press
an all-star affairNORFOLK, Va. -- The biggest night of the year for many of the all-stars from the Triple-A International and Pacific Coast leagues may have been even bigger for a Hawaii guy who's already made it to the majors.
Former Norfolk Tides and Hawaii Pacific University outfielder Benny Agbayani, who was called up to the New York Mets just before the major league all-star break, married his fiancee, Niela, before the game in a ceremony featuring Hawaiian shirts, leis made with real flowers and a receiving line of bat-toting ballplayers.
The idea for the home-plate wedding came when Agbayani, then with the Tides, turned down an invitation to represent Norfolk in the game, telling International League president Randy Mobley he was getting married that day.
The Tides then suggested the ballpark wedding, which Agbayani and his fiancee agreed to before the parent club called him up the following day.
Agbayani, of Aiea, wore a blue Hawaiian shirt, and his bride a matching blue muumuu. After the ceremony, the couple walked through a tunnel formed by all-stars holding baseball bats aloft, then were carried off the field in a white stretch limousine as players showered them with rice.
