JUPITER, Fla. _ The Marlins had a special guest during their Sunday workout: former NFL head coach/Miami Dolphins executive Bill Parcells.
Parcells, who is buddies with third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez and spends his winters in Jupiter, waited along the edge of the team's primary practice field at the Roger Dean Stadium complex as they came out of the clubhouse to stretch.
Manager Don Mattingly stopped by for a 10-minute chat as his players warmed up.
Mattingly and Parcells don't know each other particularly well, but they were stars in 1980s New York.
Mattingly, of course, was the Gold Glove first baseman and regular MVP candidate for the Yankees, a team new Miami hitting coach Mike Pagliarulo also played for. Parcells coached the NFL's Giants to Super Bowl wins after the 1986 and 1990 seasons.
Parcells has dropped in on Marlins spring training a bunch through the years.
Most memorable, perhaps, is the tale of an encounter with a young Giancarlo "Mike" Stanton. One day in 2010, Parcells visited Marlins camp and met the 6-foot-4, 220-pound, 20-year-old Stanton and observed: "You're too wormy for football."
