Monday, May 31, 1999
Hot Benny
Isn’t About To
Cool His Jets
With Bobby Bonilla back
By Dave Reardon
from injury, playing time may
be harder to come by in
the Mets outfield
Special to the Star-BulletinYOU hit safely in nine consecutive at-bats, and you're way over .400 after three weeks in the majors. You hit homers in the first two games and single off Randy Johnson while your dad is in town to see you play. You roam the outfield next to Rickey Henderson, a childhood hero. The Shea Stadium fans chant your name.
"Benn-yyy . . . Benn-yyy."
Life is perfect for Benny Agbayani, isn't it?
Not quite.
New York can be a tough town, even if you're among the hottest hitters in baseball. Actually, it has nothing to do with the city; it's just that the Mets outfield is more crowded than a Gotham subway.
The mix includes Hall-of-Fame bound Henderson, veteran Brian McRae and speedy Roger Cedeno, who is almost as hot as Agbayani. And Bobby Bonilla - whose injury got Agbayani recalled from Norfolk on May 11 - is coming off the disabled list today.
Bonilla was mired in a slump before he got hurt, but he makes a huge salary. Although anything could happen, including a trade involving one of the outfielders, the most popular rumor is that Bonilla will be put back in the lineup. That would probably cut seriously into Agbayani's playing time. Unfortunately, productivity doesn't always equal job security, even in the big leagues.
The former St. Louis School multi-sport star and Hawaii Pacific standout fears it will be him who gets kicked to the curb when the Mets make a move.
"They haven't told me anything," said Agbayani, 27, who lives in a New York hotel with his wife Niela, a former University of Hawaii softball player. "I don't want to get a place and then they tell me I have to go back down."
If Agbayani sounds like the most paranoid .451 hitter in the world, part of it is because the 25th-round draft choice who spent six seasons in the minors has to pinch himself to realize he's really where he is and that he's really doing what he's doing.
"It's a great feeling. (Henderson) was one of my biggest heroes in baseball," said Agbayani, who never attended a major league game before the Mets called him up last season. "Now I'm playing right next to him. He tells me just go out there and play hard, and have fun, that's it. I just watch him on the bases. I watch all the players who have been playing a long time so I can learn."
Maybe they can learn something from him.
He has six homers in 51 at bats - a McGwire/Sosa '98 rate - and was among baseball's most productive hitters in May. Agbayani said he's never been hotter - not even during his Little League days in Aiea.
"The ball still looks the same, I'm just zoning up, not missing the pitches that I should be hitting. I'm not getting ahead in counts or anything, and I faced some of the pitchers before in the minors, so it's not like they don't know me," Agbayani said. "I'm kind of surprised by the power. I haven't really hit for that much power before."
He has the size for it. At 6-foot, 225 pounds, Agbayani is quite a bit bigger than during his all-state wide receiver days at St. Louis.
Agbayani didn't impress during a couple of stops with the Mets last year, despite the fact that their situation was the opposite of this season in the outfield: They often had trouble fielding a healthy threesome.
Agbayani went 2-for-15, and made more news for getting married at home plate at the Triple-A all-star game in Norfolk than what he did there with a bat.
Agbayani was a fan favorite for the Tides, and has become one with the Mets. While his torrid hitting (.552 at Shea) is an obvious reason, Agbayani's father, also named Benny, senses something else.
"Benny's always been a team player," said the father. "I think the fans see that and appreciate that. Last night at the game a lot of fans knew I was his dad, and they shook my hand and told me how much they appreciate him."
The Mets organization hasn't always thought very highly of Agbayani as a player. He was never considered a prospect, and despite good numbers at every minor league stop, was passed over numerous times for promotion. Agbayani thought he'd be elsewhere - maybe Japan - this year.
But he ended up at Norfolk again, where the Mets had him learn to play first base. This time they couldn't ignore his gaudy numbers when Bonilla got hurt; Agbayani was batting .356 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 28 games.
Though he's all over SportsCenter and the sports wire lately, Agbayani is still an unknown.
He was overshadowed when he hit two homers in one game, because it was the same day that Robin Ventura hit two grand slams.
Agbayani, the first Met to wear No. 50 since Kaiser High grad Sid Fernandez, hit over .600 the week of May 15-22, but was not considered for Player of the Week.
So last week Agbayani came back from the knee injury and hit three out of the park.
"The swelling went down real fast," he said. "I'm not concerned with awards. I'm getting the opportunity to play now and I just want to prove to myself and others that I can play in the big leagues."
DIAMONDBACKS 10, METS 1
Last night's box score:
Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Womack rf 6 1 4 1 0 0 .275 JBell 2b 5 0 0 0 1 4 .291 LGonzalez lf 4 2 2 0 1 1 .376 MaWilliams 3b 5 1 1 0 0 0 .319 SFinley cf 5 3 4 5 0 0 .260 TLee 1b 2 2 0 0 3 1 .239 DMiller c 4 0 0 0 1 1 .315 AFox ss 4 1 2 3 1 0 .333 RaJohnson p 4 0 2 1 0 2 .154 b-Colbrunn ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .294 Holmes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 40 10 15 10 7 9 New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Henderson lf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .265 Cedeno cf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .323 Olerud 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .341 Piazza c 3 0 2 0 0 0 .328 MFranco 3b 1 0 1 0 0 0 .261 Alfonzo 2b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .292 Agbayani rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .451 Ventura 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .271 LLopez 3b-ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .308 Mora ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Beltran p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Yoshii p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .158 Mahomes p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .200 a-Pratt ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 0 .286 Totals 32 1 6 1 1 12 Arizona 313 000 300--10 15 0 New York 000 100 000-- 1 6 0a-lined out for Mahomes in the 7th. b-flied out for Johnson in the 9th.LOB--Arizona 10, New York 6. 2B--LGonzalez (16), SFinley (9), AFox (3). 3B--AFox (2). HR--Cedeno (1) off RaJohnson; SFinley 2 (11) off Yoshii 2. RBIs--Womack (7), SFinley 5 (36), AFox 3 (10), RaJohnson (3), Cedeno (7). SB--Womack (25), SFinley (3), TLee (10), Henderson (7). CS--Henderson (4). GIDP--JBell.
Runners left in scoring position--Arizona 5 (Womack 2, DMiller 2, RaJohnson); New York 2 (Piazza, Alfonzo).
Runners moved up--MaWilliams, DMiller.
DP--New York 1 (Ventura, Alfonzo and Olerud).
Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA RJohnsn W, 6-2 8 5 1 1 1 10 114 2.88 Holmes 1 1 0 0 0 2 21 2.66 New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Yoshii L, 5-4 2-2/3 8 7 7 3 1 68 4.94 Mahomes 4-1/3 5 3 3 2 6 76 4.97 Beltran 2 2 0 0 2 2 33 3.52Inherited runners-scored--Mahomes 2-0.IBB--off Mahomes (AFox) 1. HBP--by RaJohnson (Olerud).
T--2:53. A--38,302 (55,777).
