O.C. BUSINESS PLUS

It almost was a storybook tale: young player, a local favorite, struggling to make it in the big leagues, gets a chance to play and hits an 11th-inning grand slam to win the game.

The plot starred Hawaiian Benny Agbayani, whose home run Thursday night at the Tokyo Dome gave the New York Mets a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs and a split of baseball’s first season-opening series in Japan.

But the story’s ending may not be happy: Met Manager Bobby Valentine, sitting next to a beaming Agbayani after the game, said that “baseball’s not always fair” and indicated the player probably will return to the minors.

“Benny’s a big boy,” Valentine said. “Even if it’s not accepted, it’s understood.”

Agbayani’s smash gave a dramatic finish to major league baseball’s first overseas experiment, and ended a pitchers’ duel between the Cubs’ Kyle Farnsworth and the Mets’ Rick Reed.

The game gave Japanese fans the tough, polished play they had failed to see in the opener Wednesday, when the Cubs beat the Mets in a walk-riddled game. And it heartened league officials who had weathered criticism for starting the season so far from home.

“I think this was a great success,” Met catcher Mike Piazza said.

Cub Manager Don Baylor said his players enjoyed “the culture, the love of the game” they saw in Japan. But he added, “I know just about everyone in the locker room is ready to go home.”