MIAMI -- ¡°Where legends come to life.¡±
Jeff Conine aka ¡°Mr. Marlin¡± was immortalized as the inaugural member of the Marlins Legends Hall of Fame during an on-field pregame ceremony Sunday afternoon at loanDepot park. Over the past 24 hours, his son Griffin Conine has been doing his best to uphold the family name.
Griffin, who robbed a home run in Saturday¡¯s victory like his father once did in the postseason, knocked the game-tying solo homer in the seventh inning on Sunday in the Marlins' 3-2 walk-off win over the Pirates.
The Marlins became the first Major League club to tally each of its first three wins of the season in walk-off fashion since the 2003 Rays.
¡°The whole thing's surreal to me,¡± Jeff told MLB.com in a suite with 30 family members and friends. ¡°I'm not one to really like attention so much, but today's all about me, and it's almost uncomfortable, but that's a cherry on top. Outside of the World Series or playoffs, it doesn't get any better than this. It really doesn't.¡±
Added manager Clayton McCullough: ¡°How cool is baseball? Griffin Conine, on this day, hitting that home run. Sometimes things happen that just feel special. So really cool moment for him today. That was awesome.¡±
Conine spent eight of his 17 Major League seasons (1993-97, 2003-05) with the Marlins. Not only was he part of the inaugural ballclub in ¡®93, but he also was the only player to be a member of both World Series championships (¡®97, ¡®03).
A two-time All-Star (1994-95), Conine earned All-Star Game MVP honors for his pinch-hit go-ahead homer in the eighth inning of the ¡®95 Midsummer Classic. He ranks in the Top 5 in Marlins history in categories such as games played (second, 1,014), hits (third, 1,005), RBIs (third, 553), singles (third, 688), multi-hit games (third, 278), at-bats (fifth, 3,471) and walks (fifth, 376).
The usually stoic Conine got emotional during his 4 1/2-minute speech, thanking Marlins fans, his former teammates and his family, including his wife, daughter and two sons in attendance.
¡°I've known his family and known [Griffin] for a long time,¡± said 1997 World Series teammate Charles Johnson, who caught Jeff¡¯s ceremonial first pitch. ¡°It's such a proud moment just to see that home run he hit on the [afternoon] that's celebrating Jeff. It was an outstanding moment to see his whole family going crazy there.¡±
Griffin, who became the second second-generation Marlin when he debuted on Aug. 26, 2024, changed his jersey number to 18 to honor his father this season. He has done his dad proud through the first four games of 2025.
¡°It's up there,¡± Griffin said of where Sunday¡¯s homer ranked in his professional career. ¡°Debut's up there. This is right next to it. From everything -- from the ceremony itself, and then getting to come up in a big spot and do it, and then us finishing with a win, and our third walk-off win in four days -- it's awesome. We're in a great spot to start the year, and we're all heading to a little afterparty thing for my dad after this, which I can't wait to get to.¡±
Jeff's plaque will hang from a wall at the Marlins Legends Hall of Fame, which officially opened at a teal ribbon-cutting ceremony. Fans can visit the Hall on the Legends 5 level at loanDepot park by taking the escalator up near the Home Plate Entrance.
The Hall of Fame features several murals depicting key moments and players in franchise history -- and even pots and pans to signify the vibrant street celebrations that followed both World Series titles.
Another wall commemorates franchise leaders and an organizational timeline from its 1991 inception to the surprise 2023 NL Wild Card berth.
Both World Series trophies and banners are on display, plus plenty of memorabilia from Hall of Famer Andre Dawson to the late Jos¨¦ Fern¨¢ndez.
¡°It's a long time coming, I think,¡± said Conine, who wore his 2003 World Series ring and was presented with a custom designed Perry Ellis jacket. ¡°Thank you to [principal owner] Bruce Sherman and the Marlins¡¯ organization for developing this first Hall of Fame. We've got a lot of unbelievable players that have played on this team, not only on our team, but have gone on to Hall of Fame careers elsewhere. So it's going to be fun being part of the process from now on to elect new members to the Marlins Hall of Fame.¡±