At the beginning of this season, left fielder Benny Agbayani’s status as a Met was uncertain. The left fielder didn’t know if he’d be on the major league roster or not. Now, in the stretch run of the season, the only question about Agbayani was when he’d make another out.
Going into last night’s tilt with Arizona, Agbayani had reached base in 10 straight plate appearances. He hadn’t been retired since his second at-bat Tuesday in San Diego. And his streak – which included four walks, four singles, a double and getting hit by a pitch – left him two-thirds of the way to the club and N.L. record of 15, set by Barry Bonds in 1989, and matched by John Olerud in ’98.
Agbayani is so locked-in, and hitting is so easy for him right now, he had no idea about his streak. And while he admits it would be nice to add the NL record to his scrapbook, he says he’d much rather add a World Series ring to his trophy case.
“If I do accomplish that (record), it’ll be great. I work as hard as I can to be a great hitter,” Agbayani said before last night’s game. “(But) to tell you the truth, I didn’t know anything about the streak. I heard from you guys. I’m not really into all that stat stuff. I’m more into winning. Getting the ring would be more satisfying than having the record. A record can be broken, (but) when you win a championship no one can ever take that away from you.”
It remains to be seen if he’s a great hitter, but he’s sure hitting great. He came into last night batting .316, including .346 in his last 36 games; not bad for a guy who made the Opening Day roster only because the Mets didn’t take a fifth starter to Japan, and only avoided demotion later because of Darryl Hamilton’s injury.
“It is (rewarding), from the start of the season not knowing where I’m gonna be,” Agbayani said. “I hope I (proved myself). I guess I did, because I’m out there every single day now.”
He proved himself to manager Bobby Valentine, who campaigned with GM Steve Phillips to leave Agbayani on the roster. And when asked about Agbayani’s streak, Valentine said “What, are you trying to jinx him? Benny’s a very good hitter, but he looks like he’s locked in right now, and seeing the ball really well.”
Which, in Agbayani’s case, is more about mechanics than vision.
“Getting my feet down is my timing,” Agbayani said. “In my style of hitting, timing is everything. I have that leg kick, and when I don’t get that leg down I don’t see the ball well and I’m not gonna hit.”
He’s hit leadoff several times lately, something you might assume he can’t do because of his burly 6-foot, 225-lb. frame, but something he loved to do at Hawaii Pacific University. It’s something he did again last night.
“I wanted to always do it. When I came to pro ball, I guess they had guys to do it. I don’t know what happened,” said Agbayani, who surmised that people stereotype him as slow because of his stocky frame. “I think so. That’s why I’ve got to prove people wrong. A lot of times I’ve had (to deal with) that.”
