page_title: Nashville Xpress
section_title: 1993 season
hierarchical_section_title: Nashville Xpress / History / 1993 season
caption_attribution_description: Eddie Guardado
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: The Xpress became the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins after prospective owner Tom Benson signed a player development contract—a working agreement between major and minor league clubs—when still planning to buy and relocate the franchise. Nashville was managed by former major leaguer Phil Roof. The coaching staff was rounded out by pitching coach Rick Anderson and hitting coach Mark Funderburk, both of whom also had major league playing experience, and athletic trainer Rick McWane.
  The Xpress played their first game on April 8, 1993, against the Orlando Cubs at Tinker Field in Orlando, Florida. Nashville's Rich Becker started the game by reaching base on an error and then scoring a run on Scott Stahoviak's RBI ground out in the top of the first inning. The 1–0 lead was short lived as Orlando hit two two-run home runs off of Bill Wissler in the bottom of the first. Both teams scored again, but the Cubs' four first-inning runs were enough to defeat the Xpress, 5–3. Nashville got its first win the next night as they defeated the Cubs 5–3 with help from starting pitcher Eddie Guardado, who pitched six shutout innings, and Steve Dunn, who scored the winning run on an eighth-inning three-run homer. Their home opener at Greer was played on April 16 against Orlando. Pitchers Todd Ritchie, Mike Misuraca, and Jason Klonoski limited Cubs batters to five hits and no runs in the 4–0 shutout. Nashville scored the winning run in the second inning when Brian Raabe doubled bringing home David Rivera and Rich Becker. The game was attended by 1,715 people on a cold night.
  The Southern League's 142-game season was split into two halves wherein the division winners from each half qualified for the postseason championship playoffs. Nashville managed to hold off the other four teams in the Western Division to win the first half title with a league-best 40–31 record. In recognition of their first-half performances, pitcher Oscar Múñoz and outfielder Rich Becker were selected for the 1993 Double-A All-Star Game. Múñoz, who did not play in the game after having pitched six innings the night before, led the Southern League with 11 wins and 118 strikeouts, while Becker possessed a .280 batting average with 10 home runs and 42 runs batted in (RBI); he struck out in his only at bat off the bench.
  The Xpress lost three members of their starting rotation when Eddie Guardado was called up to make his major league debut with the Twins in late June, all-star pitcher Oscar Múñoz was moved up to the Twins' Triple-A Portland Beavers in August, and Todd Ritchie was unable to play for the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury. Despite winning the first-half, the Xpress struggled after the all-star break. They finished in fourth place with a 32–39 record, 11 games out of first.
  Nashville faced the Birmingham Barons, winners of the Western Division's second half, in the best-of-five division championship series. In game one, held at Greer Stadium, the teams entered the fifth inning tied with two runs apiece, but Mike Robertson's grand slam put the Barons up 6–2. The Xpress answered with three runs in the sixth but left runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings on the way to a 7–5 loss. In the second game, the Xpress bullpen gave up nine runs in the eighth, blowing a 6–4 lead and resulting in a 13–6 loss. Game three of the series shifted to Birmingham, Alabama, where Nashville allowed nine runs in the sixth inning as the Barons erased what was a 3–1 Xpress lead. Birmingham won the game 10–3 and eliminated Nashville from the playoffs, ending their only postseason appearance in franchise history.
  Combining both halves, the Xpress' composite record stood at 72–70 for the 1993 season. Oscar Múñoz was chosen to receive the Southern League Most Outstanding Pitcher Award after compiling an 11–4 record with a 3.08 earned run average (ERA) and 139 strikeouts in ​131 ²⁄₃ innings pitched. Rich Becker, who co-led the league in runs scored (93), was named to the Southern League's postseason all-star team and was called up to Minnesot
caption: Eddie Guardado, was the starting pitcher in Nashville's first win on April 9, 1993.
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