For John Wehner, final game for Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium was 'most amazing thing'

From the first time he set foot inside Three Rivers Stadium to the last, the memories are as clear for John Wehner of taking the 51C bus from Carrick to baseball games as a young fan as they were of playing third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The final game remains unforgettable.

Wehner, now a color analyst on Pirates broadcasts, revels in reminiscing his role in making history on Oct. 1, 2000. A crowd of 55,351, the largest to see a regular-season game in the stadium’s 31 years, bid farewell to the ballpark as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pirates, 10-9. The game will be aired as a Pirates Classic at 7 p.m. Tuesday on AT&T SportsNet.

“Knowing I was getting the opportunity to play the last month at Three Rivers was surreal,” said Wehner, who spent that season at Triple-A Nashville until a Sept. 1 call-up. “I felt very fortunate. I’ve had some big breaks in my career but no bigger break than getting to play in that last month of the season.

“My head was more on me as a child in that ballpark than me as a player. I kept thinking how cool it was to play in there.”

Not only did Wehner make the final error in the top of the first inning and the final out in the bottom of the ninth but he has the honor of being the final player to hit a home run at Three Rivers Stadium, a moment he calls “ the most amazing thing that’s happened to me.”

First, he had to get past the butterflies.

The Pirates typically posted their starting lineup in the clubhouse the day of the game, but manager Gene Lamont had tipped Wehner days beforehand that he would be starting the finale. It was a knowing nod to the hometown hero, one who believed his playing days were coming to an end.

“My gosh, I couldn’t be more thankful to have that opportunity,” Wehner said. “The only problem was the anxiety. I had that in my head, ‘I can’t screw up.’”

So, of course, he screwed up. When the second batter, Corey Patterson, hit a one-hopper to third, Wehner didn’t have a play to force leadoff hitter Jeff Huson at second. So Wehner went to first, but his throw got past first baseman Kevin Young.

It was Wehner’s first error at third base since 1992, and Mark Grace followed with a two-RBI double to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead with no outs.

“I still remember the guy’s voice from third-base stands,” Wehner said, mimicking a heckler. “‘Way to go, Wehner. You just cost us two runs!’”

Wehner made up for it with his bat, going 3 for 5 with two RBIs and a run scored. He singled to left off Jon Lieber in his first at-bat in the second inning, then hit a breaking ball off the end of his bat to the warning track his next time up in the third, knowing that he just missed getting his first homer of the season.

That came in the fifth, when Wehner drove a 2-1 pitch over the left-field fence to score Warren Morris and give the Pirates an 8-5 lead. It was the fourth and final homer of Wehner’s career.

“I knew as soon as it left my bat,” Wehner said. “I hit that as good as I could hit a baseball. It was flush. That’s probably the best I ever hit one. At the moment, I was like, ‘Wow.’ Everything was surreal.

“The place instantly goes nuts. I kept telling myself to slow down, take this in. And I couldn’t. I was floating. I remember shaking Trent Jewett’s hand at third and seeing my teammates. They’re going crazy. The home run wasn’t that big of a deal as it was the reaction from my teammates and those fans.”

Wehner was mobbed by Pirates players and serenaded by fans in the only curtain call of his career. On a night when Sister Sledge sang the national anthem and Willie Stargell threw out the ceremonial first pitch, that moment was overwhelming.

“I’ve never in my life shed a tear, not in a game I played or watched, not as a Little Leaguer, not in the playoffs in ’91 or ’92, not in the World Series,” Wehner said, “except for when I went back out to third base that day. It was hard to stay composed, just because of the reaction.”

No wonder Wehner became convinced he was destined to be the hero, even after the Cubs rallied with two runs in the sixth and three in the eighth to take a 10-8 lead before John Vander Wal drove in Brian Giles in the bottom of the ninth to cut it to one.

Wehner came to bat with two outs, the tying run on second base and a chance to win the game. Instead, Jamie Arnold got him to hit a grounder to third for the final out.

Wehner still has a photo of him walking off the field with his head down as the Cubs celebrated.

“For me, it was essentially one game was a mirror of my rollercoaster career, the ups and downs, the home run and last out,” Wehner said. “As much joy as I felt with the home run, I felt that much disappointment. It was a bummer. Then again, it was super cool.”

Perhaps the coolest part for Wehner was how batting .300 (15 for 50) in the final month earned him another contract with the Pirates. That allowed Wehner to play in the final game at Three Rivers Stadium and the first season at PNC Park, another unforgettable first and last.