MARLINS 7, GIANTS 6: Florida pulls out another dramatic win to advance to the NLCS.
By TOM JONES
Published October 5, 2003
MIAMI - The aroma of champagne and fat cigars filled the room, along with the crazy music and giddy screams.
In May, when this team was six games under .500 and sinking so fast that it fired its manager, no one could have guessed this aimless club was headed for a magical ride that would lead to Saturday's bash.
Florida, the team people might have doubted, if they even considered the Marlins at all, is now the surprise toast of baseball. The Marlins moved into the National League Championship Series with another heart-stopping, jaw-dropping, eye-popping victory in a game that featured one of the most dramatic endings in postseason history.
Marlins leftfielder Jeff Conine cut down San Francisco's J.T. Snow at the plate to preserve Florida's 7-6 victory over the Giants to win the best-of-five series in four games.
After a violent collision that sent Florida catcher Ivan Rodriguez flying head-over-heels, Rodriguez held up the ball to send 65,464 fans into pandemonium and the Marlins into the next round.
"They're just exciting guys to be around," said 72-year-old manager Jack McKeon, who took over a 16-22 team on May 11. "They got that fire in their eyes. They're never going to quit, they're never going to give up."
For the second day in a row, Pro Player Stadium was treated to a stirring conclusion. In Friday's Game 3, Rodriguez delivered a two-out, two-run hit in the 11th for a one-run victory.
The Marlins looked as if they wouldn't need any late-inning stars on Saturday. Behind rookie starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis, the Marlins built a 5-1 lead headed to the sixth. But the Giants clawed back with four in the sixth and appeared determined to send the series back to San Francisco for a deciding fifth game, something Florida wanted no part of.
"It was a little quiet (on the bench after the Giants tied it)," Conine said. "But that's the defining characteristic of this team, to never give up."
Marlins rookie Miguel Cabrera, whom McKeon called "a big-game player," broke the tie in the eighth with a two-run single - his fourth hit to give him three RBIs for the day.
That set up the ninth.
The Giants scored one to make it 7-6 and had runners on first and second with two outs. Jeffrey Hammonds lifted a sinking blooper to left while Snow tried to score from second.
"When it first left the bat, I thought I had a chance to catch it," Conine said. "I didn't want to dive right at the end and miss it and have the run score easily."
McKeon said he was yelling on the bench, "Come on, Jeff. Come on, Jeff."
Conine picked up the ball on one bounce and fired to home.
"I caught the ball in my chest and knew (Snow) was going to run into me," Rodriguez said. "He did what he had to do."
Snow lowered a shoulder, but Rodriguez had the ball firmly in his mitt. Seeing Rodriguez hold up the ball, Snow dropped his head to the ground, knowing San Francisco's season was over.
"I'm proud of my boys," San Francisco manager Felipe Alou said. "It was wasn't meant to be."
It looks as if it was meant to be for the Marlins, considering all the dramatic endings.
"It's a special feeling," McKeon said. "I've never felt this good, never felt this excited in my life."
