Baseball writes its own stories

Unlike other sports, baseball writes its own stories.

Of course, Griffin Conine was going to tie the game 2-2 with a solo home run on the day his father Jeff “Mr. Marlin” Conine was inducted as the first member of the Marlins Hall of Fame.

Of course, the Miami Marlins were going to win their third game of the season on a walk-off, just as they did the previous two games.

“How cool is baseball? Griffin Conine, on this day, hitting that home run. Sometimes things happen that just feel special,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “So really cool moment for him today. That was awesome.”

With their 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, the Marlins became the first MLB team since the 2003 Tampa Bay Devil Rays to win its first three games of a season in walk-off fashion. However, in the case of Derek Hill, it was more of a run-off.

Hill led off the ninth inning and reached base on a single thanks to a throw past the first baseman. Another errand throw toward second base that went to the outfield allowed Hill to not only steal second base but also advance to third. Hill then scored the winning run on a wild pitch to secure the Marlins’ third walk-off win of the season.

Jeff Conine was honored as the first member of the inaugural Marlins Hall of Fame class for being the only member of the inaugural 1993 season and both World Series teams of 1997 and 2003. He is also the franchise’s only All-Star MVP, earning that honor in 1995.

Both World Series-winning managers and second baseman Luis Castillo, who spent 10 years with the Marlins and won two championships, will also be honored later this season.

It was only fitting for Conine to see his son rob a home run on Saturday and hit a home run on Sunday.

“The whole thing’s surreal to me,” Conine told MLB.com. “I’m not one to really like attention so much, but today’s all about me, and it’s almost uncomfortable, but that’s a cherry on top. Outside of the World Series or playoffs, it doesn’t get any better than this. It really doesn’t.”

On a team full of scrappy outcasts, brought to Miami by way of waiver claims and minor league trades, Griffin Conine stands out as the household name. The Marlins quietly acquired him in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays two years after being drafted out of Duke in 2018.

He has always shown promise as a power-hitting outfield prospect, especially when he slugged 36 home runs and 84 RBIs in 108 games between single-A and double-A in 2021. He made his MLB debut on Aug. 26, 2024, and became a second-generation Marlin. He changed his jersey number to 18 this season to honor his father and is living up to the Conine name with his performance this past weekend.

“From the ceremony itself and then getting to come up in a big spot and do it, and then us finishing with a win — our third walk-off win in four days — it’s awesome,” Griffin Conine said. “We’re in a great spot to start the year.”