Phillies get their first look at the son of an old nemesis

Over the past few decades, the Philadelphia Phillies have been terrorized by all-time greats like Mike Piazza and Chipper Jones, but they were hardly unique in that regard. Star players are good across the board, against every opponent. But it's the next tier of players, maybe even a few tiers down, that always sticks in the minds of fans when you happen to notice one such player who just crushes a team for one reason or another.

For the Phillies, Jeff Conine was the guy.

Make no mistake, Conine had a very good MLB career. The two-time all star amassed almost 2,000 hits and belted 214 home runs to go along with a quite respectable .285 batting average. And he became "Mr. Marlin," an early face of the franchise who was part of both of their World Series championship teams during his two stints with the Fish. But he was no Hall of Famer.

While we always like to talk about Phillies history around here, a discussion about Conine's track record against the Phils is particularly relevant at this moment because his son Griffin is about to face the Phillies for the first time in the big leagues just as the Phils are sizzling during the stretch run of this regular season. Yes, that was a palpable chill running up the spines of Phillies fans everywhere at the mention of the name "Conine."

The Phillies are about to get their first look at Griffin Conine, the son of an old nemesis

Griffin Conine is appropriately with the Marlins, but he took an indirect route to get there after he was drafted by them in 2015, didn't sign, was drafted in 2018 by Toronto, and then was traded back to Miami in 2020. Call it fate, I suppose. Now, less than two weeks into his time as a big leaguer, he gets to face the team whose teeth his dad repeatedly kicked in. And it wasn't just a figment of fans' collective imaginations; the numbers back it up.

To begin with, it helps that Jeff Conine played against the Phillies more than any other team during his MLB career, as his 128 games, 481 plate appearances and 425 at-bats versus the Phils all top the list for him. As a result, he had more doubles (35), hits (122) and RBI (70) against the Phillies than any other team, and he only homered more against the Rockies, which doesn't count all that much. His career batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, and OPS against the Phillies were all above his career averages. He just wore out the Phightins, and any list of Phillies nemeses has to include him.

In 2006, the Phillies finally raised the white flag and decided to trade for Conine, who was an Oriole at that time, so that he could stop ruining things for them. It was a pretty nice showing for the late-season acquisition (17 RBI in just 28 games), lending credence to the idea that the Phillies should have tried to bring him in years before instead of just as a 40-year-old rental. The guy could simply hit.

The Phillies shipped him to the Reds that offseason, and he was later dealt to the Mets at the 2007 deadline, where even that old Conine magic couldn't keep them from collapsing down the stretch to pave the way for the Phillies. Conine retired after that season, and it looked like the Phillies were finally free.

For a generation of Phillies supporters, Jeff Conine was the poster boy for battering the Phillies, rivaled only by Bill Mueller, a man who bashed the Phils so frequently that people just started to call him, "Bill Mueller, Phillie Killer" (Mueller was pronounced Miller in case anyone forgot). Mueller's numbers against the Phillies were even more impressive, as he batted .345 for his career against them with a .954 OPS, which is equivalent to what Juan Soto has put up during his MLB career so far. The knock on Mueller was that he had a much shorter career and ultimately only ended up facing the Phillies less than half as many times as Conine did. And for that, the Phillies were grateful.

As for the Conine family, even though Jeff's many thrashings of the Phillies are a decade and a half in the rearview, we now have the potential of enduring a long stretch of Griffin continuing on the family tradition. Baseball is a multi-generational sport, as families like the Griffeys, the Boones, the Guerreros, and many more have made a lasting mark on the game. Maybe it's about to happen for the Conines; let's just hope it doesn't come entirely at the Phillies' expense.

In reality, the Miami Marlins shouldn't be much of a stumbling block for the Phillies in this series or anytime soon. But don't overlook the Conine factor.