John Heller, Post-Gazette Francisco Cordova pitches nine hitless innings July 12, 1997, against the Astros. Click photo for larger image. First in the series: '97 Pirates had some fun with run for division title Second in the series: Opening trip, crazy victories impetus to unexpected season More Pirates Coverage: Pirates minor-league report

The 1997 Pirates were known as "The Freak Show" -- a phrase announcer Greg Brown first used May 25 in Montreal after Kevin Young's grand slam beat the Expos, 8-6.

The phrase pointed up the oddity of what those Pirates, expected to lose about 130 games, were accomplishing.

And when those precocious Pirates arrived at the All-Star break 43-43 and in first place by a game in the National League Central, they were the talk of the town.

And not just Pittsburgh.

Cleveland, too.

"All anybody wanted to talk about was these no-name Pirates," said Tony Womack, who played in the All-Star Game in Cleveland. "Talking about that with the media was better than being selected. I told the media, 'Man, we're having fun! We came out of nowhere.' "

The Pirates, however, limped out of the gate after the All-Star Game.

With a chance to push second-place Houston farther back, the Pirates failed to score in their first 27 post-break innings against the Astros at Three Rivers Stadium.

But then, in perhaps the most dramatic moment of their season, they broke that streak July 12 on a three-run home run by pinch-hitter Mark Smith against John Hudek with two outs in the 10th inning.

"He threw me a first pitch fastball -- in -- for a strike," Smith said. "I'm thinking, 'Well, he has pretty good velocity. I'm going to look hard again out over the plate.' "

Hudek's next pitch was another fastball that he didn't get inside enough.

Smith crushed it.

"I had a good feeling it was going to go out of the ballpark," Smith said. "When I went around the bases and stepped on home plate and everybody's high-fiving, I realized, 'Holy cow! This was a no-hitter!' "

Francisco Cordova (nine innings) and Ricardo Rincon (one) combined on the no-hitter.

"You don't usually start paying attention to a no-hitter until the pitcher gets through five innings," Smith said. "He rolled through the sixth and the seventh and you get on the edge of your seat. You're thinking, 'Holy cow! He's really got a shot at this.' Then you think, 'Hey, we've got to score to win.' "

Score they did on Smith's smash.

"If you had to pick one game that was the highlight of the year, it had to be the no-hitter," general manager Cam Bonifay said. "When Smith hit the ball, I remember jumping up and down in my box.

"It was probably one of the most exciting moments in my history in baseball. Going through the nine innings with Frankie and then he leaves and then Ricardo comes on.

"I remember the standing ovations for Frankie when he walked off in the seventh and the eighth and the ninth and then Ricardo went out there and got 'em out and then Smitty just got into that fastball and the whole place erupted."

"It was unreal," said Kevin Polcovich, who was on deck when Smith connected. "He got into that ball! I was just ecstatic. There was something special going on with that team."

"I remember jumping up and hitting my head on the dugout roof," Womack said. "You can't forget that. It was a World Series feeling. There wasn't a hand not clapping. There wasn't a foot not stomping. There was not a high five not given. Even now I feel goose bumps talking about it."

"I can still hear the sound of the bat," Kevin Young said. "It was so explosive. I was so happy he hit that home run. So many times people had stolen our thunder. You could feel the storm coming and then somebody would steal the thunder. I was glad we could finish off something very special for us."

"One of the special nights," Dale Sveum said. "To be able to finish it off like that made it a pretty special night, another defining moment in that season that we all remember and were part of."

"Oh, my gosh, it was crazy," Joe Randa said. "But it was like it was almost meant to happen. The funny thing about sports -- especially baseball -- is that something different happens every day, something that never really happened before. History is being written every day."

Cordova had a history of pitching well against Houston. Lifetime against the Astros, he was 6-2 with a 2.78 earned run average and allowed only 55 hits in 81 innings.

And less than three weeks earlier, Cordova threw a two-hit shutout against the Astros in Houston.

"It was like we were swinging at butterflies," Houston manager Larry Dierker said of that game in the Astrodome. "We didn't get a good swing the whole game. When he faced us that night [in Pittsburgh], I thought, 'Well, he might shut us down, but there's no way he can pitch better.'

"How improbable is it that a guy would pitch a no-hitter and a two-hitter against the same team in the same season? But improbable things happen in baseball."

"When things like that happen," Pirates manager Gene Lamont said, "you think, 'Maybe this will be a magical year.' "

Nine days later in Philadelphia, there was additional proof that it might be a magical year for the Pirates.

On an overcast Monday afternoon at Veterans Stadium, the Pirates faced an uphill battle against Curt Schilling, who that season would finish 17-11 with a 2.97 ERA and lead the league with 319 strikeouts.

That day, Schilling would pitch eight innings and strike out 15. So when the Phillies gave him a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, it seemed the Pirates were all but done.

"He was overpowering, throwing 95 [mph] under your chin, under your hands," Womack said.

In the sixth inning, Womack walked and Al Martin, who was 3 for 28 against Schilling, drove his only career home run against the right-hander.

That was strange enough, but an inning later something even weirder happened for the Pirates.

With Keith Osik on third base and one out, Lamont flashed the suicide squeeze sign to Polcovich on a 1-1 count.

But Polcovich missed the sign.

So with Osik dutifully sprinting toward the plate, Polcovich swung and missed a 96-mph fastball high and away. Osik was tagged out and the scoring opportunity seemed lost.

"The lowest of lows," Polcovich said. "I'm thinking, 'I have to make something happen or I'll get a one-way ticket to Calgary.' "

Polcovich, who inexplicably would finish 3 for 4 lifetime against Schilling, avoided that Calgary exile by hitting a 3-2 pitch over the left-field wall for one of just four home runs he would hit that season.

It wound up the deciding run in the Pirates' 3-2 win.

"Schilling wasn't very happy," Polcovich said. "He was airing me out while I went around the bases. But it was very cool -- probably the highlight of my career. It was just one thing after another that year."

Polcovich performed his heroics in front of a busload of fans, including his parents, from his hometown of Auburn, N.Y.

"There was a group of fans down the right-field line that had a big Polcovich banner," Randa said. "We were all over him about that. Here's a guy who was sacking groceries in spring training to make extra money and now he has a banner for himself in a visiting ballpark.

"But what a great memory for him and for our team."

"It was just one thing after another that year," Polcovich said.

"It was really kind of weird how we just kept winning," Turner Ward said.

Weird, yes. But winning enough? No.

While the Pirates continued to play at their usual pace after the All-Star break -- 15-18 in their first 33 games -- Houston finally began playing better. The Astros won 22 of their first 32 games after the break to go to 65-55.

On Aug. 12, Houston moved 6¹/₂ games ahead of the Pirates, who faced their largest deficit of the season.

It was time for Bonifay to make some kind of trade.

"The joke in the clubhouse was that other teams were going out and getting tanks and here we are with slingshots and rocks," Young said.

That was about to change.