On this day in Marlins history, the Marlins acquire Jeff Conine from the Orioles for pitchers Denny Bautista and Don Levinski. Joe Frisaro gives us his take on the trade. "In contention for the NL Wild Card, the Marlins received a blow on Aug. 30 when All-Star third baseman Mike Lowell suffered a broken bone in his left hand after getting hit by a pitch. Desperate to find a veteran to help pick up the slack." Conine became a big part of the club's push to win the 2003 World Series championship. Conine instantly became a fan favorite again that year and got to celebrate the club's second World Series.
Conine actually has had quite the career as it has spanned 17 years which includes eight memorable years with the Marlins. Conine is one of very few players that have won two World Series titles on the 1997 and 2003 Marlins teams. Conine had some of his best seasons in a Marlins uniform, including the 1994-1996 season's where his OPS was over .840 in all three years where he set his career high of .899. Conine's slash line over his eight-year Marlin career was .290/.358/.455 which was good for .813 OPS. Another interesting fact about Conine is that he is in the 10000hit club for the Marlins after registering 1982 hits in his career. Luis Castillo and Conine are the only two players to play in 1000 games in a Marlin's uniform in the team's short but successful history.
Nicknamed "Mr. Marlin," Conine seems to be the next player to have their number retired in the coming years. He has played in the second most games in team history and registered a 16.9 fWAR and a 13.7 bWAR. His career was a model of consistency and it shows throughout his career even in different environments such as Baltimore, Florida and Philadelphia. His average season is quite remarkable with the slash line of .285/.347/.443 and an OPS of .789 while registering 159 hits and 51 extra base hits. It's really quite remarkable that he was drafted in the 58th round of the 1987 draft by the Kansas City Royals. He has to be considered one of the best success stories in comparison to where he was picked in the draft. Conine shows us that if you work hard and keep on improving great success is just around the corner. Overall it was a massive need the Marlins had to fill and who better than Mr. Marlin himself.