It’s April 17, 1996, and Robbie Alomar did a little bit of everything to extend the O’s hot start — and the Red Sox’s early season misery — with a 6-5 walk-off win in 12 innings. The game took almost four and a half hours and ended after midnight in Baltimore.

Alomar had four hits, including his second home run of the year, and made a sparkling defensive play in the ninth to preserve the tie game and send it to extra innings. In the 12th, he scored the winning run on B.J. Surhoff’s bases loaded single.

Since the game ended so late, we’re not treated to quotes in Buster Olney’s game article in the Sun. So we don’t know what anyone thought after the game. We can presume that the O’s were happy and the Red Sox — who have lost seven straight and are in the midst of their worst start ever — are not.

Fortunately, Ken Rosenthal has a column about our favorite early-season topic: the Bobby Bonilla at DH saga. 

Bonilla finally played in the field tonight, starting in right field and hitting a 2-run double in the fifth. 

As you’ll recall, yesterday O’s manager Davey Johnson said he would not be bullied by the media into starting Bonilla in the field. Rosenthal takes the bait with his lede. “Bobby Bonilla returned to the field last night, and neither the devil nor his media serpents made Davey Johnson do it.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, April 18, 1996)

Elsewhere in Birdland, team legend Frank Robinson, who was fired as the O’s assistant general manager after last season, is waiting for his next chance to get back into baseball. But he knows his time may be nearing an end. “I’m getting on,” he said. “And understanding life may go on beyond baseball. I’m not comfortable [with that], but I'm pretty settled and satisfied.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 6D, April 18, 1996)

The first-ballot hall of famer — and 2x MVP, 14x All Star, and all-time great — wouldn’t be out of the game long. He’d be hired as MLB’s vice president for on-field operations in 1999, and then he was manager of the Washington Nationals from 2002 to 2006.

Robbie Alomar adds a brick.

Boston Red Sox (2-12) at Baltimore Orioles (11-2), 3:05 p.m. ET

Starting Pitchers
BOS – LHP Jamie Moyer, 1-1, 3.94 ERA
BAL – RHP Mike Mussina, 3-0, 1.88 ERA

Celine Dion just will not relinquish her grasp on the #1 spot, and “Because You Loved Me” is once again topping the charts this week. We’re going to have to go back to the UK, because the Mack is back, and he’s on top of the charts over there.

At the bottom of the front page is a photo of Elijah Cummings, who coasted to win a special election in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District. The election was to replace Kweisi Mfume, who left his seat 9 months early to become the head of the NAACP.

Cumming won 81% of the vote to soundly defeat Republican challenger Kenneth Kondner.

Less than 25,000 votes were cast, which was a record-low 8% turnout. Cummings said he felt good about the results but was concerned about the turnout.

“This is disgraceful,” said Barbara Jackson, the city’s election administrator.

Cummings would win reelection 14 more times, serving in Congress for 23 years until his death in 2019. In his final election, he received 202,345 votes in 2018, which was much better turnout than the 18,870 votes he got to run away with this special election.

Welcome to a recurring segment where I find fun things in today’s (in 1996) Baltimore Sun!

Yard sale bonanza! Yeehaw.