It’s August 11, 1996, and the O’s used six relievers in the game, but the bullpen couldn’t hold a 5-3 lead in the seventh. The White Sox would score five runs over two innings, winning 8-5 and providing a sour end to an otherwise terrific 13-game road trip for Baltimore.

The O’s were 9-4 on the trip, but head home four games back of the Sox in the wild card race.

“We feel a lot better,” first baseman Rafael Palmeiro said to the Sun’s Buster Olney. “This was a do-or-die road trip. If we go 3-10 on this road trip, it’s pretty much over for us. It was a pretty good road trip, and we got ourselves back in the race.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1C, August 12, 1996)

O’s starter Scott Erickson labored through five innings, giving up 12 hits and four walks but somehow only three runs. The bullpen held through the sixth, but Alan Mills was charged with four runs in the seventh as the White Sox put it away. Dave Martinez, Ray Durham, and Ron Karkovice had four hits apiece for the South Siders.

B.J. Surhoff and Cal Ripken each homered for the O’s as they hit at least two home runs in their ninth straight game, tying a club record. With his blast, Cal has now hit 20 or more homers in 12 of his 15 seasons.

But at the end of the day, it was a great road trip. Here are some highlights from the Sun:

Those sure are some fun facts. Here’s hoping the Birds can keep up the momentum when Milwaukee comes to town tomorrow. That’s right, after a 13-game road trip, the O’s don’t even get an off day to head home. The 1996 schedule sure was brutal. 

Here’s the box score with the not-so-lovely totals. 

Through six starts now, the O’s switch to a four-man rotation seems to be working. Starters are 4-0 with a 3.78 ERA in that span. “I think it’s great,” Erickson said. “From day one, when they first mentioned it, I was hoping they’d do it. It gives you more chances to get out there.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 5C, August 12, 1996)

The results are good in the short term, but can the four starters hold up for another two months?

B.J. and Cal add a couple bricks.

Brewers (55-64) at Orioles (60-56) 7:35 p.m.

Starting Pitchers
MIL – LHP Scott Karl (10-6, 5.15 ERA)
BAL – RHP Rocky Coppinger (7-3, 4.93 ERA)

The Walters Art Gallery has purchased 17 Ethiopian objects from private collectors, which the Sun says provides a “window into little-known links between early Christianity and Africa, and are the most significant acquisition made by the museum in decades.”

Holly Selby’s lede has some more details.

“A 16-foot parchment fan made 500 years ago by Ethiopian monks. A painted wooden triptych showing Mary with a cloak of pale blue and eyes of deepest black. An ancient Gospel that contains in its illustrations rare clues to the architecture of Jerusalem at about 500 A.D.”

“It was off the charts in terms of historic value,” said Gary Vikan, the museum’s director. “And three of the pieces were of almost unduplicatable quality outside of Ethiopia. It’s like old cars or good chocolate: You either know it or you don’t. I knew great Ethiopian art when I saw it.”

Dr. Moges Gebremariam is Ethiopian and he was on the museum's steering committee.

“Many people don’t realize that African art has been influential for centuries,” he said. “One has only to look at this art to see that Picasso, Chagall, Henry Moore, all were inspired by it. … The Ethiopian and African art sends a message that the museum is trying to interest the people of the community in their art.”

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

Keep the promise you once made to yourself.