Peter O’Brien was like any other South Florida kid who grew up following the Marlins. He had a stash of teal Marlins caps and T-shirts. He went to dozens of games. Once, he even managed to get Hanley Ramirez to sign his cell phone case.
“That’s all I had on me,” said O’Brien, who was born in Hialeah, raised in Miami Gardens, five minutes from Pro Player Stadium, and went on to play at the University of Miami. “I still remember it to this day.”
O’Brien lost the Ramirez-signed phone case long ago.
But the Marlins remain close to his heart because, well, he is one.