It’s August 14, 1996, and Eddie Murray launched two homers, including a go-ahead eighth inning blast, as the O’s won 8-5 to complete a short two-game sweep of the Brewers.

Eddie now has 497 career home runs and has hit six since rejoining the O’s a few weeks ago in a trade with Cleveland. Buster Olney’s lede in the Sun is pretty good:

“Eddie Murray did not come back to Baltimore to be a sentimental ornament. He isn’t interested in participating in a one-man reunion tour, like Frank Sinatra doing one last weekend in Las Vegas. Murray wants to win, and hit his 500th homer along the way, and he’s investing himself physically and emotionally to that end.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, August 15, 1996)

Roberto Alomar also hit two homers for the O’s, who let a 5-3 lead slip away in the seventh before Murray and Alomar put the game away in the eighth.

“When you get an Eddie Murray-type player he has to help us,” Alomar said. “He knows how to keep us pumped up. … He’s not complaining about being in the designated hitter spot. He’s doing that job and doing a good job.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 5D, August 15, 1996)

Despite being spotted a 3-0 lead in the first inning, O’s starter David Wells struggled through 5⅓ innings, giving up four runs. Newly acquired reliever Mike Milchin recorded the final two outs of the eighth to earn the win when the O’s took the lead.

As Olney reports, the 40-year-old Murray has been a revelation in the clubhouse, walking up and down the dugout encouraging his younger teammates.

“If you can help somebody, you help somebody,” Murray said. “There are not many situations I haven’t seen. I don’t want them to think that I know everything, but you just try to help.”

The vibes are getting good again. With the White Sox loss, the O’s are 3.5 games back in the wild card race.

Here is the box score with the lovely totals.

O’s ace Mike Mussina will start tomorrow’s game in Oakland and then head back home to Montoursville, Pa., to attend the memorial for those who died in the crash of TWA Flight 800. Mussina still lives in the small town where he was born. 

“I’m relieved that I’m going,” Mussina told the Sun’s Jason LaCanfora. “The schedule got moved so it’s easy to do it. If I had to pitch Sunday, I don’t know if I could’ve gone.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 5D, August 15, 1996)

“I think it’s great that he’s going,” said O’s manager Davey Johnson. “Whatever we can do for loved ones left behind, we have to do it to show them we care.”

Two for Eddie, two for Robbie.

Orioles (62-56) at A’s (60-62) 10:05 p.m.

Starting Pitchers
BAL – RHP Mike Mussina (14-8, 4.97 ERA)
OAK – RHP Willie Adams (1-1, 4.02 ERA)

The #1 song in America on August 14, 1996, is once again the incomparable “Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)” by Los Del Rio. Let’s head to the R&B chart and see what’s going on over there. It’s a big week for fans of nasally voiced crooners! The top song on the R&B charts is none other than “Twisted” by Keith Sweat. It is something like proto-autotune.

The GOP National Convention is still going on in San Diego. The Sun’s Paul West said last night’s agenda “mixed family-friendly themes with some high-tech Clinton-bashing.”

Rep. Susan Molinari, who inherited her dad’s Staten Island House seat, had the featured spot. And she let the President have it… with fat jokes. “Americans know that Bill Clinton’s promises have the life span of a Big Mac on Air Force One.” 

With material like that, it is shocking that the TV ratings for the first night showed a 20% drop in viewership from the 1992 convention. Sounds like “Dole fever” isn’t very contagious.

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

Galileo beamed home some new photos of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. It’s newsprint so you’ll have to imagine it is red.