page_title: Nashville Xpress
section_title: 1994 season
hierarchical_section_title: Nashville Xpress / History / 1994 season
caption_attribution_description: Rick Anderson - Twins pitching coach
context_page_description: The Nashville Xpress were a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins from 1993 to 1994. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Herschel Greer Stadium, sharing the ballpark with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds of the American Association. The Xpress were named for the trains which ran along tracks beyond the outfield wall and the team's sudden arrival and expected departure.
  Formerly known as the Charlotte Knights, the Xpress were formed after the 1992 season when Charlotte, North Carolina, acquired a Triple-A expansion team in the International League, leaving the Southern League franchise in need of a new home. Larry Schmittou, president of the Triple-A Nashville club, offered to let the displaced team play at Greer Stadium until a permanent home could be found. Schmittou and the Sounds' staff served as caretakers of the team during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Afterwards, the Xpress left Nashville to play on an interim basis in Wilmington, North Carolina, where they were known as the Port City Roosters in 1995 and 1996.
context_section_description: Phil Roof and the rest of the 1993 coaching staff returned to lead the team on the diamond in 1994. The Xpress began the season with an 11–3 loss to the Carolina Mudcats at Greer Stadium on April 7. They stayed in the running for the first-half title until the last three days of the half. Despite winning 27 of 40 games before being eliminated, Nashville fell four-and-a-half games short of first place with a 39–31 record, third best in the Western Division. Starting pitchers LaTroy Hawkins and Marc Barcelo were selected to participate in the Double-A All-Star Game. At the time, Hawkins held a 9–2 record with a 2.33 ERA. He missed the game after his promotion to Triple-A two weeks prior made him ineligible, as did Barcelo (9–2; 2.43 ERA) after pitching six innings the previous day.
  Nashville jumped out to an early division lead but, much like the first half, were eliminated from second half title contention three games before the end of the season. In their final home game, played on September 1 against the Huntsville Stars, Nashville held a 1–0 lead going into the eighth inning, but Huntsville scored three runs in both the eighth and ninth innings on the way to a 6–2 defeat of the home team. Though the loss prevented them from clinching the division title, the Xpress were still in contention for a wild card playoff spot if they could finish in second place behind the first-half champion Stars with a pair of wins in their last two games. A 5–3 loss to the Chattanooga Lookouts at Engel Stadium on the next-to-last day of the season, however, ended their hopes of returning to the playoffs. The Xpress closed out their 1994 schedule on the road against Chattanooga on September 3; Nashville's batters were limited to just two hits in a 5–0 loss. They ended the second half in fourth-place at an even 35–35, four games out of first.
  The Xpress recorded a 74–66 composite record in their final year in Nashville. Right-hander Brad Radke was named to the Southern League's 1994 postseason all-star squad. He and Barcelo were tied with another player for the Southern League lead in games started (28). LaTroy Hawkins tied for the league's best winning percentage (.818, 9–2). Nashville's pitching staff led the league in ERA (3.40) and strikeouts (917) while allowing the fewest stolen bases (105). After playing 282 regular season games and compiling an all-time record of 146–136, the franchise left Nashville.
caption: Rick Anderson coached the Xpress' pitchers to a league-leading 3.40 ERA and 917 strikeouts in 1994.[41]
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