NL DIVISION SERIES: METS v GIANTS

October 7, 2000

Benny Agbayani

BENNY AGBAYANI: No. I wasn't. Some of my teammates, John Franco, Turk Wendell, Al Leiter, they just said go up there and be the man. I knew the wind was blowing out pretty hard out there, so I knew once the ball got up in the air, it had a good chance.

BENNY AGBAYANI: My approach was, you know, I'm going to hit the ball hard. I had a great-at-bat last time and I didn't move the guys over so I had to redeem myself. It's a blessing that that was the redemption right there, a home run.

BENNY AGBAYANI: Yeah, I talked it over with this reporter, and he said it was like the Survivor game. I live on the island and I was the lone survivor, still here, and the only thing I didn't get was probably the million dollars. It's a great feeling and it's a blessing in disguise that I'm still here. I never look back at it, but people bring it up to me, what happened when we were in Japan. It's just that Bobby Valentine told me, you know, things have a way of working out. I didn't understand that. Now I do.

BENNY AGBAYANI: It's a tremendous moment. This is better than hitting a ball in little league or high school, American League. This is where it all counts. This is what I do for a living. It's just a great feeling to go out there and hit a home run in the big dance, in the playoffs.

BENNY AGBAYANI: I think he has a lot of faith in me. He hit me anywhere in the order. You know, it gives me a boost because I have someone there to guide me through it and give me the support. I think all of the support has made me a better person, and I just thank him very much for having that much faith in me.

BENNY AGBAYANI: It was aggravating. He gave me the bunt the first time up and I fouled it off and he wiped it off. I tried to bunt the second time on my own and I didn't succeed. But, you know, you've got to redeem yourself some time, and you know, when I came up, I just told myself I was going to redeem myself right there.

BENNY AGBAYANI: I guess everybody is not going to let me down on that one. It was a big boo-boo on myself and it cost us a big -- it almost cost us the game, but Todd Zeile picked us up and we got that win. I'll always remember it, and I'll always have that in the back of my head. And I don't worry about it because the fans in left field always make sure they tell me how many outs anyway. (Laughter.)