Benny Agbayani

Outfielder

Born: December 28, 1971

• New York Mets (1998-2001)

• Colorado Rockies (2002)

• Boston Red Sox (2002)

Career highlights and awards

• Appeared in the 2000 World Series with the New York Mets.

Benny Agbayani (born December 28, 1971) was 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 parents, where he attended Saint

Louis School and Hawaii Pacific University. He also attended Oregon Institute of Technology.

• 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), andChris 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 Johns Benny and the Jets.