page_title: Nashville Sounds
section_title: Pittsburgh Pirates (1998–2004)
hierarchical_section_title: Nashville Sounds / History / Pacific Coast League / Pittsburgh Pirates (1998–2004)
caption_attribution_description: English: John Wasdin 日本語: ジョン・ワズディン
context_page_description: The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the city's association with the music industry. The team plays its home games at First Horizon Park, which opened in 2015 and is located on the site of the historic Sulphur Dell ballpark. The Sounds previously played at Herschel Greer Stadium from its opening in 1978 until the end of the 2014 season. They are the oldest active professional sports franchise in Nashville.
  Established as an expansion team of the Double-A Southern League in 1978, the Sounds led all of Minor League Baseball in attendance in their inaugural season and continued to draw the Southern League's largest crowds in each of their seven years as members of the league. On the field, the team won six consecutive second half titles from 1979 to 1984 and won the Southern League championship twice: in 1979 as the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and again in 1982 as the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
  The Sounds were replaced by a Triple-A American Association team in 1985.
context_section_description: The American Association, of which the Sounds had been members since 1985, disbanded after the 1997 season, and its teams were absorbed by the two remaining Triple-A leagues—the International League and Pacific Coast League (PCL). Nashville joined the PCL, becoming the eastern-most team in the circuit. Along with a new league, they began to adopt new colors and logos over the course of the 1998 and 1999 seasons, phasing out the original colors and marks in use since their foundation in 1978. The new primary logo, replacing the original "Slugger", consisted of a black, red, and white eighth note with a baseball at the top set against a circle of the same colors, plus silver, bearing the team name in white around the sides.
  The Sounds entered the Pacific Coast League as the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who sought to escape the chilly climate and lengthy travel associated with their previous affiliate in Calgary. The team regularly finished third or fourth in their four-team division, leaving them out of the playoffs. One of their three winning seasons occurred in 2003 when Trent Jewett managed the Sounds to an 81–62 record and the American Conference Eastern Division title, giving them their first postseason berth in the PCL and first playoff appearance since 1994. Nashville defeated the Albuquerque Isotopes in the conference series, three games to one, but then lost the best-of-five league championship series to the Sacramento River Cats in three straight games. Earlier in 2003, right-hander John Wasdin pitched the first perfect game in Sounds history on April 7 against Albuquerque. The 4–0 Sounds win was the second nine-inning perfect game in the PCL's 100-year history.
  Several franchise records were set during the affiliation with Pittsburgh. Chad Hermansen, a Sound from 1998 to 2002, holds the career records for runs (303), home runs (92), and runs batted in (286). Tike Redman hit a record 32 triples from 2000 to 2003. Closing pitcher Mark Corey set the record for saves (46) during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Seeking to place their Triple-A club at a newer, more desirable stadium and to escape the high travel costs associated with playing in the PCL, Pittsburgh ended their affiliation with the Sounds after the 2004 campaign. Over seven years as a Pirates affiliate, Nashville had a 493–508 record. Through 27 years of competition, the Sounds' all-time record stood at 2,036–1,890.
caption: John Wasdin pitched a perfect game for the Sounds on April 7, 2003.
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