NL DIVISION SERIES: MARLINS v GIANTS

October 4, 2003

Jeff Conine

JEFF CONINE: I came in a little bit knowing Jeffrey Hammonds has pretty good power. I didn't want to have too much room behind me to have something get over my head. But I also at the same time wanted to be able to make a good throw to the plate in case something came my way. When it first left the bat, I thought I had a chance to catch it. I didn't want to dive right at the end and miss it, have the run score easily. So stopped just short and made a good transfer, made a good throw.

JEFF CONINE: You know, it was kind of a whirlwind set of circumstances that brought me here. We got the deal done right at the last minute. Obviously the family and myself were very happy to come home. We still make our home here. To be associated with these guys has really been unbelievable. This last month of September, every night somebody else comes to the plate, somebody else makes a big pitch, somebody else makes a big play, that gives this team the character that it has shown in the last month and put us where we are right now.

JEFF CONINE: Well, with the bunch of guys we have, about a day. I got down here and played the first day, it was a 4:00 game, played that afternoon game. They made me feel right at home.

JEFF CONINE: It was a little quiet, but still that's the defining characteristic of this team is to not ever give up. And even though they came back, it was only a tie game. We weren't behind. The bullpen did a tremendous job of holding them right there. You know, with the guys that we have in our lineup, I think we all have confidence that we can score at any time on anybody.

JEFF CONINE: Absolutely. You know, when I got here we were either one game up or tied for the wild card. We had a lot of baseball to play. But, you know, we were playing the teams ahead of us that we needed to beat, and we ended up doing it. You know, it's been a dream to come back home and play in the playoffs.