America's bloodiest day
Agbayani in New York at time of attack

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Tuesday's terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center towers created some tense moments for families of two Hawai'i professional baseball players.

Former St. Louis School athletes Benny Agbayani, a New York Mets outfielder, and his cousin — Jandin Thornton-Murray, a Chicago Cubs single-A infielder — were in New York at the time of the attacks. Fortunately, they were in Queens, not Manhattan where the two jetliners crashed into the towers. Agbayani is also traveling with his wife, Niela, and newborn daughter, Aleia.

"They're all right," said Agbayani's mother, Faith. "Everything's OK."

Agbayani did not travel with his team to Pittsburgh because he is recovering from a hand injury.

Thornton-Murray joined his cousin in New York Monday after his Boise (Idaho) team's season ended.

Both players called their parents to assure them they were safe. They could not be reached for comment.

Ironically, although the Mets were out of town, they still felt effects of the attack. The team moved from its Pittsburgh hotel to another in the suburbs; the Mets' downtown hotel was near the city's federal building.

Because of his profession, Agbayani flies frequently. His mother was not concerned about the traveling until Tuesday.

"I thought it was good for Benny to see different parts of the United States," she said. "Now, you have some second thoughts. All you can do is pray."

Meanwhile, Thornton-Murray was expected to return home last Saturday with his parents, who went to watch Boise in the Northwest League playoffs. But he had made plans to stay with Agbayani until the major league regular season ends.

"We tried to persuade him from not going," Railrome Thornton said of his son. "But he had his mind set on going. It's an experience for him."

Like Agbayani's mother, Thornton is worried about his son flying.

"Right now, everything's all right," he said. "But when he has to come home next month, safety is my concern."

Thornton-Murray's younger brother, Jowen-James Murray-Thornton, a sophomore quarterback and baseball player at St. Louis, heard of the attack before his parents, who were asleep, and called his brother before Jandin called home.

"He's pretty close to my oldest boy," the elder Thornton said. "He's always looked up to him. He wants to be like his brother, so he was concerned."