All-Time Marlins Countdown: Chapter 3

Throughout the Marlins history, there have been 630 players to take the field in a regular season game for at least one plate appearance or batter faced. We’ve already looked at 14 of them. Here’s the next seven.

All players included in this article are part of the first tier: less than 20 PA/BF, and below replacement level.

616. Eddie Zosky

Eddie Zosky was an infielder from Whittier, California when drafted in the first round of the 1989 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He made it to the majors in 1991, and went six-for-34 over parts of two seasons with the Jays. After the 1994 season, the Jays traded him to the Marlins for Scotty Pace as a player to be named later.

Zosky spent most of the 1995 season in the Marlins system at the Triple-A level with the Charlotte Knights. On April 29, he got the start against the San Francisco Giants and went one-for-three, although the Marlins lost the game 1-0. Zosky made five more appearances, mostly as a defensive replacement. The Marlins granted his free agency after the season.

Later on, Zosky signed on with the Baltimore Orioles, the Giants, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Houston Astros.

615. Chad Mottola

Augusta, Georgia native Chad Mottola was taken in the first round of the 1992 draft, fifth overall by the Cincinnati Reds. A right fielder, he made it to the majors for them in 1996, and went 17-for-79 with three homers. From there, he was sent to the Texas Rangers, later signed with the Chicago White Sox and later still with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Mottola didn’t appear in the majors from his time in 1996 until he joined the Jays in 2000. For them he was two-for-nine in three games. Prior to 2001 spring training, Toronto traded him to the Marlins.

Mottola slashed .295/.343/.453 in 119 games for the Marlins Triple-A PCL club at the time, the Calgary Cannons. Called up to the Marlins in early August, he got into five games, going 0-for-7 in 10 plate appearances. He also took nine errorless chances in the outfield, appearing in all three positions in 24 defensive innings (not at the same time).

After his season in Florida’s organization, Mottola played in the minor league systems of the Blue Jays, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles before resigning with the Blue Jays. From 1996 through 2006, he went 25-for-125 from the plate, with four home runs and a dozen RBI.

614. Nate Rolison

Nate Rolison, a first baseman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was taken in the second round of the 1995 draft by the Florida Marlins. For most of the next eight seasons, he played in the Marlins minor league system, appearing at every level. In September 2000, the Marlins called him up for the rest of the campaign.

Rolison played in a total of eight games for the Marlins that month, getting 16 plate appearances in total. He went one-for-13 with a walk, two sacrifice flies, two RBI, and four strikeouts.

In mid-2002, the Seattle Mariners selected Rolison off waivers from the Marlins. Although he never got back to the majors, he later played in the New York Yankees system as well.

613. Gus Polidor

Gus Polidor was an infielder and a native of Caracas, Venezuela. He signed his first professional contract with the California Angels at the age of 19 in January, 1981. For the first eight seasons of pro-ball, he remained in their system, playing in four major league seasons. The best season of his career was undoubtedly 1987, when he hit .263/ 277/.328 with two homers and 15 RBI in 63 games.

After the 1988 campaign, Polidor was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Bill Schroeder. He played in 97 games for them over the next two years, hitting .184/.217/.221. He signed a free agent contract with the Marlins at the end of the 1992 calendar year.

Three seasons removed from his latest major league exposure, Polidor played most of 1993 with the Edmonton Trappers. Seventy-two games would see him slash .285/.335/. 402. In July, the Marlins called him up. In seven games, he went one-for-six with a pair of strikeouts and an RBI. A month after spring training in 1995, Polidor was murdered in Caracas protecting his one-year-old son from a pair of car thieves.

612. Mike Jeffcoat

Left-handed pitcher Mike Jeffcoat was a 13th round selection in the 1980 draft by the Cleveland Indians. A Pine Bluff, Arkansas native, Jeffcoat played nine seasons of major league ball between the Indians, the Giants, and the Texas Rangers. In 497 ¹⁄₃ innings, he racked up a 25-26 record, a 4.34 ERA, and a 1.450 WHIP.

Jeffcoat spent the entire 1993 season with the Trappers in the PCL for the Marlins, where he logged a 1.178 WHIP in 54 ¹⁄₃ innings. In 1994, he joined Florida’s bullpen in June. In four appearances, he was credited with a hold and no win-loss record. He pitched 2 ²⁄₃ innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits and zero walks. He struck out one batter and surrendered a pair of home runs.

Jeffcoat signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals after the Marlins released him, but was waived a month later.

611. Greg O’Halloran

Catcher Greg O’Halloran is a Toronto native and a 32nd round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1988 draft. For five seasons in Toronto’s system, he eventually rose to the Triple-A level and hit .267/.296/.357 in 109 games for the Syracuse Chiefs in 1993. After the season, the Marlins purchased his contract.

Most of 1994 would see O’Halloran at the Marlins Double-A level with the Portland Sea Dogs. At the major league level, he appeared in a dozen games with the Marlins, where he went two-for-11 with a sacrifice fly, a run, an RBI, and a strikeout.

610. Matthew Cepicky

Matthew Cepicky, a St. Louis, Missouri native, was a fourth round selection in the 1999 draft by the Montreal Expos. Three seasons later, he made his major league debut with them, and eventually played in parts of four seasons in the bigs with them. He hit .222/.249/.359 in 80 games.

After the 2005 season, Cepicky signed through free agency with the Marlins. He spent most of the next season at Florida’s Triple-A level, with the Albuquerque Isotopes, hitting .266/.352/.403 in 107 games. In April, he joined the major league team proper and got hits in his first two appearances with the team. Unfortunately, those two hits were his only in 19 plate appearances with the team. In total, he was two-for-18 with four strikeouts and a walk.

Granted free agency after the 2006 season, Cepicky signed with the Baltimore Orioles, although he didn’t ascend back to the major league level.