October 1, 2000: The Pittsburgh Pirates play their final home game at Three Rivers Stadium. Their greatest living player, Willie Stargell, throws out the ceremonial first ball. The Chicago Cubs spoil the party, 10-9. The Pirates had also closed their previous home, Forbes Field, against the Cubs in 1970, with a doubleheader sweep.
On the 2nd play of the game, Corey Patterson hit a ground ball to 3rd base. John Wehner fielded it, but threw it away. This led to an unearned run, and, given the margin of victory, it may have cost the Pirates the game.
Wehner seemed to make up for it by going 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, including the last home run hit in the stadium's 31 seasons. But he also ended up making the last out. After the game, home plate, which had previously been moved from Forbes Field, was moved to the new ballpark, meaning the Pirates could still be using the same home plate that they were using when Forbes Field opened in 1909.
It ended a streak of 99 consecutive errorless games at 3rd base for Wehner, a major league record. The previous recordholder was Don Money, who played in 86 straight errorless games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1973 and '74.
But Money was a starter. Wehner, a Pittsburgh native, never had a full season of play in a career that lasted from 1991 to 2001. His 897 plate appearances didn't even add up to 2 full seasons. Jeff Cirillo tied the record on April 18, 2002, with the Seattle Mariners, but couldn't break it with a 100th straight game.
Cirillo was an All-Star with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1997 and with the Colorado Rockies in 2000. But he only made the postseason once, with the 2007 Arizona Diamondbacks. Wehner was placed on the Pirates' postseason roster in 1992 (but not in 1991); and, playing for the Florida Marlins in between tenures with the Pirates, was a member of the 1997 World Series winners. Interestingly, both men became broadcasters: Wehner with the Pirates, Cirillo with the Brewers.
In that last game at Three Rivers, Sammy Sosa went 2-for-5 with a walk and an RBI for the Cubs. He did not hit a home run. He finished the season with 50, leading the National League. He hit 66 in 1998 and 63 in 1999, and would go on to hit 64 in 2001 and 49 in 2002.
The Steelers finished their season at the concrete circle, and it was demolished on February 11, 2001. To its east, PNC Park opened for the Pirates on April 9. (Stargell was asked to throw out the first ball again, but a few days earlier, he sent word that he was too ill to attend, and he died the morning of the opener.) To its west, Heinz Field, now Acrisure Stadium, opened for the Steelers with an exhibition game on August 25.
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October 1, 2000 was a Sunday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball, on the last day of its regular season:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 7-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. José Mercedes, a Dominican who won a grand total of 33 games in the major leagues, was the winning pitcher. The losing pitcher was Orlando "El Duque" Hernández, who won 12 games in postseason play alone.
Chris Richard went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs for the O's. Albert Belle also homered for them, the 381st homer of his career. It was in his last at-bat: Among players who hit a home run in their last major league at-bat, only Ted Williams has more. Belle had to retire at the age of 34, due to osteoarthritis in his hip. I also had that, and I was 3 years younger than he was. But he hit 381 more homers in the major leagues than I did. Then again, I never got caught using a corked bat, and he did. He has not been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Derek Jeter went 0-for-2, then was replaced at shortstop by Alfonso Soriano, who went 1-for-2. The Yankees lost their last 7 games of the 2000 regular season, and 15 out of the last 18, nearly blowing the American League Eastern Division title. They made it 8 straight and 16 out of 19 by losing Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the Oakland Athletics. Then they straightened themselves out.
* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. This game was also decided by an error by the 3rd baseman, in the bottom of the 13th inning, when Jorge Velandia grounded to Geoff Blum, who made a bad throw to 1st base, allowing Benny Agbayani to score. Pat Mahomes, father of later star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, was the winning pitcher, in relief of Rick Reed, who lasted only 2 innings.
The Yankees and the Mets were on a collision course, which resulted in what remains New York's only "Subway Series" since 1956.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-5 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Todd Helton went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs, including his 42nd home run of the season, off the man who was then the most hated man in baseball, John Rocker.
* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Fred McGriff grounded to 2nd base, but the Red Sox could only get a forceout, as McGriff beat out a throw to 1st to avoid the double play, and to allow Jason Tyner to score the winning run.
The Red Sox won 4 of their last 5 before this, to close within 2 1/2 games of the Yankees, but it was too little, too late. With only 1 Wild Card berth in each League, this meant that they missed the Playoffs.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-5 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-4 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 12-11 at Comerica Park in Detroit. No, that's not the Detroit Lions beating the Minnesota Vikings, although this was also an NFL Sunday. But there was plenty of hitting. For the Tigers, Bobby Higginson went 3-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs, and Shane Halter went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. And that wasn't the biggest story involving him: He played all 9 positions in the game, becoming only the 4th player ever to do so. (There are now 5.)
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Former Giants 1st baseman Will Clark hit a home run. It was his 2,176th career hit, and his 284th career home run. It was his last of each.
He looked like a future Hall-of-Famer when the Strike of '94 hit, but injuries led him to retire. He was only 36 years old, and it would have stunned fans in 1996 to know that, by 2022, neither Will Clark nor Albert Belle would be elected to the Hall of Fame. But they haven't, and they won't be.
Mark McGwire appeared as a pinch-hitter in this game, and did not hit a home run. He finished the season with 32, having hit 50 in 1996, 58 in 1997, a record 70 in 1998, and 65 in 1999. Injuries caught up with him, and he played just 1 more season, hitting 29.
Ken Griffey Jr. was injured, and unavailable to the Reds in this game. Having hit 56 homers in 1997 and 1998, and 48 in 1999, he finished the 2000 season with 40, and, due to injuries and no longer getting to play in Seattle's homer-happy Kingdome, he never topped 36 again.
* The Houston Astros beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-1 at Enron Field (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 11-4 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. Barry Bonds only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. The next season, he broke McGwire's record by hitting 73. Like McGwire and Sosa, he would eventually be exposed as a steroid cheat -- as opposed to Belle, who was exposed as a corked-bat cheat, something Sosa was also exposed as.
* The San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0 at Qualcommm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). How many Padre pitchers does it take to pitch a shutout? This time, 4: Adam Eaton allowed 3 hits over 6 innings, and 3 relievers completed the 7-hit shutout. Ryan Klesko hits a home run. Tony Gwynn did not play.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Anaheim Angels, 5-2 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Alex Rodriguez hit his 41st home run of the season. Edgar Martínez went 2-for-5, until Rickey Henderson pinch-ran for him. Rickey officially remained in the game, replacing Edgar as the designated hitter, but did not come to bat. Troy Glaus went 0-for-3 with a walk, but finished the season as the AL's home run leader with 47.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 3-0 at the Network Associates Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known). Tim Hudson pitched 8 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, striking out 10, for his 20th win of the season. Jason Isringhausen allowed 2 hits in the 9th, but kept the shutout.
And these games were played in the NFL:
* The New York Giants lost to the Tennessee Titans, 28-14 at the Adelphia Coliseum (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons, 38-10 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 20-17 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Michael Husted kicked the winning field goal, 20 yards, with 10:51 left in overtime.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers, 16-13 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte. Tim Seder kicked the winning field goal, 24 yards, with 11:08 left in overtime.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-13 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville, Florida.
* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Buffalo Bills, 18-16 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Baltimore Ravens, the former Cleveland Browns, beat the new Cleveland Browns, 12-0 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-16 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 31-24 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac,
Michigan.
* The Chicago Bears beat their arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers, 27-24 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
* The St. Louis Rams beat the San Diego Chargers, 57-31 at the Trans World Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.
* The New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos, 28-19 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 27-20 at 3Com Park (as Candlestick Park was then known) in San Francisco.
* The next day, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Seattle Seahawks, 24-17 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* And the New York Jets, the New Orleans Saints and the Oakland Raiders had a bye week.
Also on this day, Arsenal F.C. beat Manchester United 1-0 at home at Highbury in North London. Thierry Henry scores one of the most amazing goals you will ever see. And he does it against United's goalie Fabien Barthez, his teammate on the France squad that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
