Titans Baseball Club - Philippines

It was half a century ago when Bobby Balcena broke in with the 1956 Cincinnati Reds as the first Filipino in Major League Baseball. Since then, only three others have followed suit. Bobby Chouinard (1996-2001) debuted with the Oakland Athletics. Benny Agbayani (1998-2002) made his splash with the New York Mets. Chris Aguila cracked the Florida Marlins roster in 2004 and currently plays in their outfield. Neither however developed as a ballplayer on Philippine soil.

Robert Rudolph 'Bobby' Balcena was born August 1, 1925 in San Pedro, California of Filipino immigrants. The 5-foot-7, 160-pound outfielder had a distinguished Triple-A Minor League career with the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League in the 1950's. On September 16, 1956 Balcena made his Major League debut with the Cincinnati Reds and played in seven games. Although he had only two official plate appearances, Balcena scored two runs as a pinch-runner and recorded one putout as a left-fielder. Balcena passed away on January 4, 1990.

It would be another 40 years later before another player of Filipino descent would reach the Major Leagues. The son of an American serviceman, Robert William 'Bobby' Chouinard was born May 1, 1972 in Olongapo, but eventually went stateside. As an 18-year old out of Forest Grove, Oregon, he was a 5th round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles. He would be traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1993 and on May 26, 1996 made his Major League debut for his new team as a right-handed pitcher.

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound Chouinard would go on to play for the 1998 Milwaukee Brewers, 1998-99 Arizona Diamondbacks, and 2000-01 Colorado Rockies in five Major League seasons, compiling an 11-8 won-loss record with a 4.57 earned run average over 181 innings pitched. He made his only postseason appearance with Arizona in the 1999 National League Divison Series against the New York Mets.

Benny Peter Agbayani Jr. was born December 28, 1971 to Filipino parents in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was a 30th round selection of the New York Mets in 1993 and made his Major League debut on June 17, 1998 as an outfielder. He would go on to play four seasons with the Mets before closing out his big league career with the 2002 Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox.

In five seasons, the 6-foot, 225-pound Agbayani compiled a .274 batting average, 39 homeruns and 156 runs batted in over 1254 plate appearances. He played in both the 1999 and 2000 postseason with the Mets. His finest season was in 2000 when he hit .289 with 15 HR and 60 RBI to help the Mets reach the World Series.

The latest addition to this select group is Christopher Louis Aguila. Born February 23, 1979 in Redwood City, California of Filipino parents, Aguila was a 3rd round selection of the Florida Marlins in 1997. It wouldn't be until June 28, 2004 when Aguila made his Major League splash as a reserve outfielder.

Through the summer of 2006 with the Marlins, Aguila has compiled a .230 batting average in 133 games to go with three homeruns and 26 runs scored. Nevertheless, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Aguila still has the opportunity to develop further in the Major Leagues.