A '03 Marlins reunion brewing on backfields at Spring Training

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

JUPITER, Fla. -- A 2003 Marlins reunion takes place on a near-daily basis at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium backfields, where Jeff Conine and Juan Pierre suit up as guest instructors.

Between them, there are 4,199 hits and two World Series championships across 31 Major League seasons.

“What a great example for the group we have here,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “They've been through it. They've done it. It wasn't always easy, but they did it through hard work, some mettle, some toughness, and that's the kind of things we're trying to impress upon the importance of that for the guys that we have in our clubhouse.”

Conine, who retired in 2007, spent the first nine years of his post-playing career lending a hand to the organization. After a hiatus, he returned in November 2022 as a special assistant to Marlins chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman. Pierre, meanwhile, took off a year following his retirement in 2013 before stopping by camp again.

So what exactly does the pair do?

Around four times a week after dropping off his kids at school, Pierre arrives at the complex to help out with anything from baserunning to bunting to outfield defense. Hours before Tuesday’s Grapefruit League game, Pierre was shagging fly balls during batting practice. Conine stops by the defensive stations and batting cages, listening to what the coaches are teaching and offering any insight he might have.

“Just love being around here,” Pierre said. “I'm grateful for the Marlins letting me just tag along and not have any kind of role, but just to float around with it. If it's shagging balls today, I'll do that. If it's bunting, I do that, or whatever they need. It's great. They've been open arms even during the different regimes. They have always allowed me to come in and help out.”

Funny enough, the guest instructors find themselves learning something.

This spring in particular, the masters have become the grasshoppers due to the innovative techniques being used by the new Marlins coaching staff. When Pierre brings his kids, they soak up the knowledge and share it with their youth baseball teams. Conine’s son, Griffin, just so happens to be participating in those unorthodox drills while in his second big league camp.

Pierre makes sure to point out second-generation Marlins -- Griffin, Ryan Weathers and Cal Quantrill -- to his sons so they know that could be them one day.

“I look at Griffin and he's humongous now, and I remember him being like my kids,” Pierre said. “I always tell them the stories about that. It's cool to have them to be able to come out, because Spring Training is a little bit more laidback.”

With the passage of time comes the humbling truth that Jeff and Pierre’s careers are further in the past and they get recognized less. In 2025, “Niner” could be known as “Griffin’s Dad.” But there are still two ties to their playing days: Veteran outfielder Albert Almora Jr. grew up watching Jeff and Pierre for the hometown team, while non-roster invitee Rob Brantly was a teammate of Pierre’s during his final season.

“I definitely remember because it's been the same clubhouse forever,” said Griffin, whose dad retired when he was 10. “I was telling Rob Brantly, I remember him very specifically, because I was like 16 when he was here, which, of course, made him feel very old. He was a lefty hitter like me and I liked his swing, I remember that as a kid.

“But as far as when I was a kid coming here, Spring Training was always cool, just because so many guys in one place. And then nothing's changed, which -- I guess this will be the last year that [the facility will] be like this -- which is overdue, but nostalgia wise, it's cool.”

So what would Jeff and Pierre be doing with their time if they weren’t spending it observing workouts under the South Florida sun?

“It's all I know is baseball, so it's fun for me to get out here and just talk shop with the guys and try to help wherever I can,” Jeff said. “[I’d be] wasting time doing something that means nothing.”