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One of the stars of a young franchise, Jeff Conine was affectionately given the title “Mr. Marlin” during the franchise’s early years.
Conine was responsible for a lot of club firsts. An All-Star in 1994 and 1995, Conine would become the first player to drive in 100 runs in a season for the Florida Marlins. He hit that threshold on this day 25 years ago.
During the 1993 season, Gary Sheffield finished with 100 RBIs, but 63 of those came as a member of the San Diego Padres before a midseason trade. Against the Montreal Expos at Joe Robbie Stadium on Sept. 27, 1995, Conine needed just two RBIs to hit 100. He doubled that total in a 9-3 win for Florida.
It took Conine just two at-bats to reach 100. In the bottom of the first, Conine got the scoring started with an RBI double to score Chuck Carr. Conine would come around to score later in the inning on a two-run single by Greg Colbrunn.
The bottom of the third inning is where Conine hit triple digits. After Kurt Abbott walked to lead off the inning, Conine took the second pitch he saw from Gabe White over the left center field wall. Conine had 101 RBIs on the year and the Marlins had a 5-0 lead.
Florida pushed its lead to six before the inning was over on a Steve Decker RBI single, but Conine wasn’t done providing fireworks. Following an RBI single by Colbrunn in the seventh and Carr’s RBI double in the eighth, Conine stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.
Conine was unable to get his third hit of the evening, but a fly ball to left scored Jesus Tavarez. The Expos broke up the shutout with two outs in the ninth on a three-run home run off the bat of infielder Shane Andrews.
Conine finished the night with two hits, two runs scored and four RBIs. Colbrunn was 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the win. Carr tallied two hits for Florida. Pat Rapp allowed just three hits and four walks in seven shutout innings to earn the win.
Over 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, Conine tallied at least 95 RBIs in a season four times, but hit 100 just once. He hit that threshold and became the first player to tally 100 RBIs in a season as a member of the Marlins on this day a quarter-century ago.