MIAMI (AP) — The Conine family had a very special Sunday in Miami.
Jeff Conine became the first member of the Marlins' Hall of Fame when he was inducted before the team's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 58-year-old Conine, nicknamed “Mr. Marlin,” helped the franchise win the World Series in 1997 and 2003.
Conine's son, Griffin, then hit a tying solo homer with two outs in the seventh inning of Miami's 3-2 win. Derek Hill scored the winning run on David Bednar's wild pitch in the ninth as the Marlins took three of four in the season-opening series.
“From the ceremony itself and then getting to come up in a big spot and do it, and then us finishing with a win — our third walk-off win in four days — it's awesome,” Griffin Conine said. “We're in a great spot to start the year.”
Conine connected for his first homer of the season a day after he robbed Jack Suwinski of an eighth-inning homer with a leaping catch over the wall in left.
Conine, 27, a second-round pick in the 2018 amateur draft, was acquired by Miami in a 2020 trade with Toronto. He made his major league debut in August, joining David and Ryan Weathers as the only father-son duos to play for the Marlins in franchise history.
Conine hit .268 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 30 games with Miami in 2024.
With a group of family members, friends and former teammates looking on, Jeff Conine was presented with a teal jacket as part of the induction ceremony.
Conine played for the Marlins from 1993-97 and again from Sept. 1, 2003, through the 2005 season. The two-time All-Star batted .290 with 120 homers and 553 RBIs in 1,014 regular-season games with the organization.
Conine was selected in the 1992 expansion draft from Kansas City. He went 4 for 4 and scored two runs in the Marlins' first game, a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 5, 1993.
“It's hard to believe that 33 years ago, Charlie Hough threw that floating knuckleball to Benito Santiago to start this franchise,” Conine said during the pregame ceremony. “And I feel so blessed and fortunate to be on that first team, to be in left field to witness that first pitch, and to watch this franchise grow over the years.”
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The Associated Press
