Tom Rife: How Conine 'courted' his wife-to-be

But believe it or not, racquetball occupies a very special place in his heart, too.

For it was on a racquetball court in New York City that the 37-year-old outfielder met a woman named Cindy. She turned out to be the love of Jeff Conine's life.

Saturday afternoon at the Naples Fitness Center, Jeff and Cindy were talking racquetball again. Only this time it was more on the informal side as they met with members of the upstart Barron Collier High School Racquetball Club.

"I can't play too much racquetball during baseball season," the man affectionately known as Mr. Marlin told the teens. "It's tough on my right arm and I need that for baseball."

Especially when it comes to throwing out baserunners from left field to save postseason victories.

Conine, a new Naples homeowner, said that while it was only a month ago that the Marlins shocked baseball, the end of the dream season seems almost like ancient history now.

"It seems like much longer than it has been. It's kind of died down a little bit right now," said Conine, a member of the 1997 Series champion. He rejoined the Marlins late in the 2003 season, coming home from the Baltimore Orioles.

Time has sweetened the most recent melodrama even more.

"We felt that it was a pretty amazing accomplishment that we did. Time has only intensified that thought," he said. "We were definitely not expected to do what we did. The way our team responded to playing at Yankee Stadium, and playing the Cubs and playing the Giants, we just took it in stride. I don't know if it was just the naivet that youth brings.

"We were a dangerous team when everybody did their job, a very dangerous team," the father of three went on. The Marlins' footloose approach and roster makeup was altogether different from six years ago.

"We had so much fun. Everybody treated it like a game. They didn't care about the venue or the media," he reflected. "They just went out there and played the game and had fun. That's what set this team apart from almost every other team I've ever played on."

That the Marlins could change managers mid-stream, call upon a flame-throwing, left-handed rookie named Willis, bring Conine back into the fold for the stretch drive and then put away the Yankees was the season's miracle.

And they pulled it off with only a third of the payroll George Steinbrenner signed off on.

The whole scenario was particularly satisfying for the franchise that not that long ago was the one of the apples of Commissioner Bud Selig's contraction eye.

"When you get the right group of guys together who have fun and play hard, anything can happen," he said. "We proved it."

You can e-mail sports editor Tom Rife at tdrife@naplesnews.com.