Great big league moments for Hawaii baseball players

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Brandon Leagueearned a place in baseball history last Friday as one of six Seattle Mariners pitchers to combine on a no-hitter.

But where does delivering two of his team’s 27 outs put the Saint Louis School product’s effort among the great moments for major leaguers with Hawaii ties?

Here’s my Top 10:

1. Sid Fernandez, Oct. 27, 1986. Mets 8, Red Sox 5. If not for the stellar middle-relief effort of this Kaiser grad in Game 7, Red Sox fans might have forgiven Bill Buckner’s Game 6 miscue much sooner. Fernandez entered with New York trailing 3-0 in the fourth. After a walk, he retired seven in a row, including four on strikeouts.

2. Glenn Braggs, Oct. 12, 1990. Reds 2, Pirates 1. With one out and Barry Bonds on in the ninth, Carmelo Martinez hit a high, deep shot to right. Braggs, a former UH star, ran to the wall, jumped, and stole a home run. One out later, the Reds were off to the World Series, which they won.

3. Shane Victorino, Oct. 2, 2008. Phillies 5, Brewers 2. In Game 2 of the NLDS, Victorino hit the first grand slam in Phillies postseason history, keying a pivotal win in Philadelphia’s march to winning the World Series.

4. Benny Agbayani, Oct. 7, 2000. Mets 3, Giants 2. The Saint Louis School grad, a Shea Stadium fan favorite, homered in the bottom of the 13th to deliver the pivotal Game 3.

5. Sid Fernandez, July 15, 1986. American League 3, National League 2. The first Hawaii born-and-raised All-Star struck out the side in the eighth after walking the first two batters he faced.

6. Shane Victorino, July 14, 2009. American League 4, National League 3. The first Hawaii-born position player named to an MLB All-Star team, Victorino started in center field for the NL, and the Phillies’ spark plug from St. Anthony singled off future teammate Roy Halladay in the second inning.

7. Brandon League, June 8, 2012. Mariners 1, Dodgers 0. When League entered the game with two runners in scoring position and one out in the eighth, the Mariners were as worried about winning the game as preserving the no-hitter. League, Seattle’s All-Star closer of 2011 recently demoted to set-up, helped do both, as he induced a soft lineout to left and struck out Tony Gwynn Jr. to end the inning.

8. Lenn Sakata, Aug. 24, 1983. Orioles 7, Blue Jays 4. A late-inning replacement at second base, the Kalani High grad then found himself behind the plate in the top of the 10th inning as the Orioles ran out of catchers. Toronto took a 4-3 lead in the 10th, but then Tippy Martinez picked off three runners, all greedy to try to steal off Sakata. In the bottom of the 10th, Sakata’s two-out, three-run homer gave Baltimore a win.

9. Chuck Crim, April 20, 1987. Brewers 5, White Sox 4. Crim, an unheralded rookie who starred at UH, pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings to improve his record to 2-0. What made this win so special? It ran Milwaukee’s record to 13-0, tying the MLB record for most victories to start a season.

10. Mike Lum, May 22, 1969. Braves 15, Mets 3. How many people can say they pinch-hit for Hank Aaron in a big league game? The answer is six, and Lum is one of them; he doubled home Felipe Alou in the seventh inning.

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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.