Jeff Conine

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Jeff Conine bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Jeff Conine : biography

June 27, 1966 –

Jeffrey Guy Conine ( born June 27, 1966 in Tacoma, Washington) is a former Major League Baseball player. An inaugural member of the Florida Marlins who was with the franchise for both of its World Series titles, he earned the title Mr. Marlin for his significant history with the club, and his ties to South Florida. He has also been called Niner and "The Barbarian" (after "Conan the Barbarian").

Post-career

Conine appeared as a color commentator on three Florida Marlins Fox Sports Net telecasts, September 19–September 21, 2008, filling in for Tommy Hutton. He currently is the co-host of Marlins pre-game and post-game shows for home games, and works in the Marlins’ front office as a special assistant to the team president, David Samson.

Career stats

Games PA AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO Avg. Slg. OBP OPS Fld%
2024 7782 6957 870 1982 385 36 214 1071 54 671 1168 .285 .443 .347 .789 .990

On March 16, 2008, Conine agreed to a one-day contract with the Florida Marlins, which he signed on March 28, 2008. The Marlins had a tribute to Conine before their home opener against the Mets on March 31. He batted .290 over his career with the Marlins with 120 home runs and 553 RBIs. He still holds the franchise mark for grand slam home runs with six.

Kansas City Royals

Though Conine was originally a pitcher when he played college ball at UCLA, he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 58th round of the 1987 Major League Baseball Draft as a first baseman. After three minor league seasons, in which he batted .290 with 39 home runs and 214 runs batted in, he joined the Royals as a September call-up in . He returned to the minors for two more seasons, and learned to play the outfield with the Omaha Royals before returning to the majors late in the season.

Ironman

Shortly after retiring from baseball, Conine began competing in triathlons. On December 26, 2007, while training for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, he crashed his bicycle while trying to avoid a car pulling out in front of him, and shattered his collarbone. Though sidelined for two months by the accident, he still managed to compete in the Ironman as well as the St. Anthony’s 32 mile Olympic-style race in St. Petersburg, Florida, the half Ironman at Disney and the Timberman 70.3 in New Hampshire.

Florida Marlins

Conine was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft, and converted into a full-time left fielder. Though the Marlins narrowly avoided 100 losses, Conine emerged as a star. He went four-for-four in his first game as a Marlin, and played a full 162 game schedule in left field his rookie season. He batted .292 with twelve home runs and 79 RBIs to earn a third place finish in National League Rookie of the Year balloting.

The following season, Conine was batting .313 with thirteen home runs and 64 RBIs at the All-Star break to earn selection to the NL club. He finished the strike shortened season with a career high .319 batting average, eighteen home runs and 82 RBIs. During the strike, Conine returned to the Marlins’ Instructional League affiliate in Brevard County to learn third base.

The experiment never materialized, and Conine returned to left field once play resumed in . He batted .340 with nine home runs and 24 RBIs in June to earn National League Player of the Month honors and his second consecutive All-Star nod. In his only career All-Star game at-bat, he hit a go-ahead pinch hit home run in the eighth inning to receive MVP honors. For the season, he posted a career high 105 RBIs with a .302 average and 25 home runs. In , Conine finished with 26 home runs, a career high, 95 RBI, and a .293 average.