Postseason baseball has a way of shining the spotlight on the unheralded—those who happen to be in the right place at the right time.
The Division Series match-up between the Wild Card Mets against the 97-win San Francisco Giants offered up the usual headliners: New York’s duo of Mike Piazza and Edgardo Alfonzo along with San Francisco’s odd couple of Barry Bonds and former Met Jeff Kent, the soon-to-be MVP of the National League.
But the Mets’ four-game victory was made possible thanks to several unlikely stars—each with their own journey to the October stage—and was the difference in New York’s ascension into the League Championship Series. There was 27-year-old rookie Jay Payton and one-hit wonder Bobby Jones who twirled a masterpiece pitching performance in the clincher.
Then there was Benny Agbayani, who wasn’t even supposed to make the Mets’ roster out of spring training and was on the verge of being sent to the minors early in the season. In April, he had requested a trade from the organization. In October, he cemented his name in Mets postseason lore with a walk-off home run to cap a five-hour, 13-inning Game 3 thriller.
Just like it did in a harrowing extra-inning Game 2 win in San Francisco, New York once again strode perilously close to defeat, down 2-1 with two outs in the eighth and Lenny Harris on second.
Luckily, they had a man at the plate who had a penchant for coming through in the clutch. Edgardo Alfonzo had delivered many big hits during last year’s playoffs, and he did it once again—a double to left field that scored Harris and helped send it into extras.
The game lasted into the 13th, more than five hours old, before Agbayani faced Aaron Fultz. The Hawaii native had already established himself as a cult hero in his brief time with the Mets.
Fans embraced his underdog story of making it to the big leagues without resembling the prototypical baseball player physique.
They had pretty much forgiven his gaffe on August 12 against these same Giants, when he momentarily thought an inning was over after making a catch with a runner at third and handed the ball off to a youngster in the stands. He was about to completely eradicate that memory and provide a more lasting one.
Agbayani blasted Fultz’s pitch into the crowded stands in left-center field, flipping his bat and taking a most satisfying stroll around the bases before plunging into a sea of teammates around home plate and then being lifted on their shoulders.
He was more than a cult hero. He was a postseason hero.
”Bobby Valentine told me things have a way of working out. I didn’t understand that,” Agbayani said. “Now I do.”
