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Tom Verducci

March 29, 1999

Four years ago Giants manager Dusty Baker asked a young outfielder, "What's your name, son?" The outfielder replied, "My name is Marvin L. Benard, and I was born to play major league baseball." Benard's always had the right initials and a lot of desire, but at 5'9" and being a 50th-round draft pick, his road to the bigs hasn't been easy. After spending parts of three seasons with the Giants, he finally stuck with San Francisco for an entire season last year, at age 29, and hit .322 in 58 starts. Nevertheless, he is battling Stan Javier and rookie Armando Rios for playing time in '99. "I know I might get 500 at bats—or 100," he says. In either case he'll be ready.