Nashville Xpress

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Nashville Xpress
1993 – 1994
Nashville, Tennessee

Team Logo

Cap Insignia

Class-Level

Double-A (1993–1994)

Minor League affiliations

Southern League (1993–1994)
- Western Division

Major League affiliations

Minnesota Twins (1993–1994)

Name

Nashville Xpress (1993–1994)

Ballpark

Herschel Greer Stadium (1993–1994)

Minor League titles

League titles

none

The Nashville Xpress was a Minor league baseball team of the Southern League from 1993 to 1994. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the team played their home games at Herschel Greer Stadium. They were the Double-A farm team for the Minnesota Twins.

[edit] Team history

After the 1992 baseball season, the Charlotte Knights moved up from the Double-A Southern League to the Triple-A International League leaving a vacancy in the Double-A circuit. A new team, the Nashville Xpress, was born after Nashville Sounds owner Larry Schmittou offered Nashville’s Greer Stadium as a temporary home. The Xpress would schedule its home games during the Sounds’ roads trips. This marked the first time in 21 years that two minor league teams in the United States shared a city. When Baseball America ranked the "top 10 happenings in minor league baseball," the Nashville duo teams topped the list. The Xpress namesake, as seen in the team logo, is a reference to the railroad tracks that run behind Greer Stadium. During almost any game there, a train whistle can be heard coming from beyond the outfield.

In 1993, under the management of Phil Roof, the Xpress went 40-31 to take the first half western division title, but fell to 32-39 in the second half and was swept in the best-of-five playoffs by the eventual league champion Birmingham Barons.

Notable players during the 1993 season included Rich Becker, the team’s only All-Star; the outfielder hit .287, stole 29 bases in 36 tries, drew 94 walks, and scored 93 runs. The team also got some power from Marty Cordova, who hit 19 homers but struck out a league-high 153 times. Oscar Munoz did not make the All-Star team but still won the Most Valuable Pitcher award with an 11-4, 3.08 season, striking out 139 in 132 innings. Brad Radke (2-6, 4.62), Todd Ritchie (3-2, 3.66) and Eddie Guardado (4-0, 1.24) were also members of the Xpress rotation that year.

In 1994, the team went 74-66 under Roof but did not claim a title in either half. They drew the fewest fans (135,048) in the league for the second year in a row. The Xpress led the league with a 3.40 ERA and had two of the top six prospects in the circuit -- LaTroy Hawkins (#2 prospect, 9-2, 2.33, 50 H in 73 IP) and Marc Barcelo (#6 prospect, 11-6, 2.65, second in the league with 153 K and 4th in ERA). Catcher Damian Miller hit .268 and went on to the best career of all 1994 Xpress position players. Also notable was second baseman Mitch Simons, who hit .317 to tie for second in the Southern League in batting average. Simons also stole 30 bases in 39 attempts.

Also in 1994, Greer Stadium saw appearances by Michael Jordan, who was playing for the rival Barons at that time and came to Nashville as a visitor. Had Jordan advanced to AAA, he would have played for the Nashville Sounds, who were the White Sox affiliate at the time.

After the 1994 season, the club moved to Wilmington, North Carolina where they became the Port City Roosters.

[edit] Season-by-season results

Nashville Xpress
Year	Regular Season					Post-season
Year	Record	Win %	Finish^L	Finish^D	GB	Record	Win %	Result
1993	72-70	.507	5^th	3^rd	6.0	0-3	.000	Won First Half Western Division Title Lost SL Championship vs Birmingham Barons, 0-3
1994	74-66	.529	t-4^th	3^rd	8.0
Totals	146-136	.518	-	-	-	0-3	.000	0 SL Championships