August 23, 2004: Arizona’s Shane Nance earns only big-league win

“We have a lot of players here who we thought would be up here in a year or two, but with (13 players) on the DL – a lot of them key guys – we had no choice but to work with them and give them a chance to play.” – Arizona Diamondbacks manager Al Pedrique, August 23, 2004.1

On Monday evening, August 23, 2004, the Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park. Both teams were out of contention, although the Pirates (58-65) had a very slim opportunity for a wild-card berth in the playoffs. The Diamondbacks (38-87) were just playing out the schedule.

Casey Fossum (3-12) was the starting pitcher for Arizona, making his 20th start of the season. His win in his most recent start had been his first since July 1, and his ERA stood at 7.37. Pittsburgh countered with John Van Benschoten (0-1), who was making just his second big-league start. Van Benschoten had been the Pirates’ top draft pick in 2001.

The Pirates were celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 1979 championship with no less than 75 promotions during the 2004 season. August 23 was Dollar Dog Night, sponsored by Silver Star Hot Dogs and Schwebel’s Buns.2 Prior to the season, in a somewhat comedic piece, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Gene Collier had proclaimed that it was to be Therapeutic Finger-Painting night.3 The crowd for this otherwise meaningless game was announced at 25,154 – the lure of those cheap hot dogs being irresistible to some of those folks.

The Pirates took the early lead in the first when singles by Jack Wilson and Jason Bay, followed by a walk to Craig Wilson, loaded the bases, and Ty Wigginton hit a sacrifice fly to left field.

In the top of the second, the Diamondbacks took advantage of poor play by the Pirates to score three unearned runs and take the lead. With one out, Scott Hairston reached second on a throwing error by Wigginton, who was playing third base. Luis Terrero’s comebacker was fielded by Van Benschoten. The pitcher threw to second baseman José Castillo, who tagged Hairston out as he tried to advance to third base after being caught in a rundown.

During the rundown, Terrero made it to second base, and catcher Chris Snyder hit his first major-league homer with Terrero on base for the first two Arizona runs. Fossum’s single to center field (his first major-league hit) was followed by another single by Quinton McCracken. A double by Álex Cintrón brought Fossum home with the third run.

The Pirates tied the score in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Castillo doubled, bringing pitcher Van Benschoten to the plate for his third major-league plate appearance. The rookie, who had led all of NCAA Division I with 31 home runs in 2001 while pitching and playing first base for Kent State University, homered to the center-field bleachers, and the score was tied, 3-3.

The fireworks continued in the third inning. The Diamondbacks regained the lead in the top half. After Shea Hillenbrand doubled, Chad Tracy singled, with Hillenbrand advancing to third base. Terrero was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, and a fly ball by Snyder scored Hillenbrand with the lead run, making the score 4-3. The lead was short-lived. Pittsburgh’s Craig Wilson homered with one out in the bottom of the inning and the score was once again knotted, this time at 4-4.

The score remained tied until the ninth inning.

There were pitching changes in the interim. Fossum left the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and was replaced by Brian Bruney. Van Benschoten left the game in the top of the eighth and was replaced by Mike González. Bruney retired Pittsburgh in order in the seventh, and González struck out three batters and held the Diamondbacks scoreless in the eighth, despite yielding a single and throwing a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, with one out, Arizona left-hander Shane Nance was brought in to face rookie José Bautista, and Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon sent up right-handed-hitting Rob Mackowiak to pinch-hit.

Nance, a 26-year-old Texas native and University of Houston product, struck out Mackowiak for the second out of the inning but yielded singles to Tike Redman and José Castillo. Humberto Cota, pinch-hitting for pitcher González, flied to center field to end the threat.

The Pirates called on John Grabow to pitch the top of the ninth against the Diamondbacks. Nance, scheduled to bat first, came out of the game in place of pinch-hitter Carlos Baerga. Baerga singled, hitting a chopper that third baseman Wigginton was unable to throw to first in time. Pinch-runner Jerry Gil moved to second on a sacrifice by McCracken. Cintron then singled up the middle, scoring Gil with Arizona’s fifth run. José Mesa replaced Grabow and retired the two batters he faced to send the game to the bottom of the ninth with Arizona leading, 5-4.

Greg Aquino pitched the bottom of the ninth inning for Arizona and saved the win for Nance. It was the rookie’s seventh save of the season. It was Nance’s first, and only, big-league win. The loss was charged to Grabow, bringing his record for the season to 2-5.

The win brought the Diamondbacks’ record to 39-87. They remained in the NL West cellar for the balance of the season. The Pirates, although with a better record, were just about as competitive in the NL Central. The loss brought their record to 58-66. They finished the year in fifth place in their six-team division.

Aquino went on to save a team-leading 16 games in 2004, but rarely closed games over the balance of his six years in the majors.

Cintron’s two RBIs brought his total for 2004 to 40. He would go on to compile 49 RBIs while playing in 154 games, the most in his nine-year career.

Chris Snyder was just three games into his career. His three RBIs were the first of his career. He went on to play 10 seasons in the majors with four teams.

Shortstop Jack Wilson of Pittsburgh, who went 2-for-5 in the game, was having his best season. He was named to the All-Star team and received the Silver Slugger Award. In the All-Star Game, he replaced Edgar Renteria in the sixth inning and was hitless in two at-bats. For the season, he batted .308 and led the Pirates with 201 hits. He led the league in triples. He reached double digits in doubles (41), triples (12), and home runs (11), becoming the first Pirate to reach double digits in each extra-base-hit category since Andy Van Slyke in 1992.

“Triple A Night? I mean don’t rub it in. Every night’s Triple A night around here; just look at the roster.” — Gene Collier referencing a May 20 promotion at PNC Park, February 6, 2004.4

“It’s very, very tough working with a lot of young players. You have to teach them how to play – and win some games. We’re making progress slowly.” – Al Pedrique, August 23, 2004.5

The Pirates had fallen on hard times. Their most recent winning record had been in 1992, and they were experiencing a 20-year streak of futility. They did not post a winning record until 2013.

The Diamondbacks were one of the more successful expansion teams. They had posted winning records from 1999 (their second season) through 2003, winning the World Series in 2001. Their 51-111 record in 2004 was the worst in franchise history and was generated by a squad featuring 18 players with less than three years of major-league experience, 13 of whom had less than one year. Al Pedrique took over from Bob Brenly as manager on July 2. The 2004 season was the first in a string of seven years during which Arizona finished below .500 in all but one season.

Sources

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy edited by Len Levin.

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and the following:

McManaman. Bob. “Cintron RBI Lifts D-Backs,” Arizona Republic (Phoenix), August 24, 2004: C5.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT200408230.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B08230PIT2004.htm

Photo credit: Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Paul Meyer, “Pirates Waste Rookie’s Effort,” Pittsburgh Post Gazette, August 24, 2004: C-5.

2 Advertisement, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, August 22, 2004: C-6.

3 Gene Collier, “Promotions are Everything to Woebegone Pirates,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 6, 2004: B-2.

4 Collier.

5 “Notebook,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 24, 2004: C-5.