"Even now, years later, something comes back to Trevor Hoffman when he surveys the empty stadium. He's the trivia answer, of course. He's the last of the Opening Day Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now!, that expansion mix of hopefuls and helpless in 1993, though being told he's the final one playing surprises him.

"What about Stormy?" he says.

That's Dave Weathers, who's playing in Cincinnati. Weathers. Stormy. Get it? It was that kind of team. Benito Santiago arrived in a limo each game. Luis Aquino bathed in a magic liquid brewed by his father, a Santeria priest.

Alex Arias rubbed the orange hair of a troll doll for good luck, which made his neighbor, Gus Polidor, ask to move lockers. Polidor was scared of the troll because he believed in voodoo, Arias explained.

"I remember in spring training that year Charlie Hough was riding a stationary bike while smoking a cigarette,'' Hoffman said. "He said, 'It's easy to ride the bike without doing this."

But, no, Stormy wasn't on the Opening Day roster. So Hoffman is the lone survivor. He's 41 now. He's lost 8-10 mph on his fastball, he says. Now with Milwaukee, which Thursday ended its series with the Marlins, Hoffman remains so dominant he hasn't yielded a run all year, has 15 saves and just was named the National League Pitcher of the Month.

"Blue seats,'' Hoffman said, looking up at the stadium's orange seats a couple hours before Thursday's game. "Remember they had blue seats then? And everyone was so excited about the team. What was the attendance that year?"

About 38,000 a game, he's told.

"There was a lot of energy us players fed off, I remember that,'' he said.

Back then the stadium was named for a man, the owner danced the Hokey Pokey and just having a night of baseball was enough for South Florida. On Thursday, Jeremy Hermida missed a routine liner to right field to gift wrap a run-scoring triple for Milwaukee and deservedly was booed.

In 1993, Junior Felix dropped three fly balls one night in right field and was immortalized. Manager Rene Lachemann called right field, "The Bermuda Triangle." ESPN replayed the drops to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies.

The first year was fun like that. And different. Rich Renteria slept in the clubhouse because he didn't have money for a car. Catcher Mitch Lyden's father-in-law called Lachemann's show requesting more playing time for his son -- and got it the next day. Lyden hit a home run, too.

"Richie Lewis got some deal for a Mazda RX7 and told the dealer to give me one,'' Hoffman said. "I couldn't believe I was getting a free rental car. I hated losing that car when [I was] traded.""