The Miami Marlins are long removed from their 2003 World Series win, but a piece of the team remains. Jeff Conine aka “Mr. Marlin” was a touted hero from that championship run and now, decades later, his son Griffin Conine dawns the teal and black for his fathers alma mater.
“Jeff Conine authored one of the most memorable defensive moments in Marlins history in Game 4 of the 2003 National League Division Series,” writes MLB.coms Christina De Nicola. “Twenty-two years later, his son Griffin Conine added to franchise lore in Miami’s 5-4 12-inning walk-off victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday at loanDepot park.”
The ‘lore’ in question refers to an eighth inning snag the young outfielder made in a 3-3 tied ball game. Jack Suwinski, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, launched a change-up with just enough force to get over the left field wall. A perfectly timed leap from Conine brought the ball back into the park, keeping the tie in place.
“It got over my head really quick; I knew it was going to be right at the fence, if not over,” Conine said in a post game interview. “I thought for sure it was going to be out of my reach, and it kind of hung up for me — got close to the fence and just pretty much jumped as high as I could, and extended as high as I could, and just like snow coned it, barely in the webbing, and somehow hung on to it and brought it back.”
Christina De Nicola provided even more silver lining on the gold-glove-level play, pointing out that a play like this wouldn’t have been possible in 2012 when the park opened. Stating that the outfield walls, which initially stood more than 11 feet tall, were shortened to seven feet because “ownership wanted to make the venue less pitcher-friendly and provide opportunities for dramatic home run robberies.”
Dramatic is just what they got, manager Clayton McCullough took to his post game presser to praise the effort.
“Incredible,” the skipper said. “He races back, [and] you couldn’t have timed it up any more perfectly. Where he was, stayed on the ball, reaching up over like that. That’s as good of a play as you’ll ever see. That was terrific.”
Maniac Marlins Cap Weekend With Second Walk Off In Three Days
The Marlins and Pirates traded blows all night Saturday, tying the game four separate times in 12 inning effort. Eventually it was Miami’s Dane Myers who would deliver the final blow in 5-4 victory.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Myers said in a post-game interview. “Hitting a walk-off in the big leagues is cool. It’s a privilege to be playing at this level and something like that is pretty special.”
Head And Shoulders Above Last Season Mark
With a second triumph in their season opening series, the Marlins have now matched the win total achieved in the teams first 13 contests last season. The Fish will have one more chance against the Pirates on Sunday before playing host to the New York Mets for a three game early week series.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Son Of Iconic Outfielder ‘Mr. Marlin’ Makes Game Saving Snag In 12 Inning Bout appeared first on Heavy Sports.