Marlins reliever Scott Maine grateful for chance to play

The opportunity to play baseball for any team, let alone his hometown Miami Marlins, is something that relief pitcher Scott Maine is thankful for. Seven years ago, it would've been hard to imagine the Major Leagues as a possible future for Maine after a severe car accident required surgery to repair his fractured skull and induced comas to relieve swelling in his brain.

Maine spoke to Zack Meisel of MLB.com about the accident, the recovery and how it caused him to further appreciate the sport he grew up playing:

"It goes along with the saying, 'Throw every pitch like it's your last,'" Maine said. "That made it more of a reality. It's not just a saying; it actually occurred in my life. It helped me in that aspect to where, when I go on the field, I don't do anything half. I go 100 percent.

"You never know when you'll not be able to play the game of baseball."

After many years of recovery and battling back from the injuries, Maine made his MLB debut with the Chicago Cubs in August 2010. Through the remainder of the 2010 season and the 2011 season, Maine pitched in just 20 games before he was waived by the Cubs in August 2012.

He bounced from the Cubs to the Indians to the Blue Jays before the Palm Beach Gardens-native landed back home with the Marlins. He has a career record of 2-3 and a 5.59 ERA.