It’s August 3, 1996, and the O’s jumped out to a 4-0 lead early and eventually held on for their first win in Cleveland in over two years, 9-4. The win snapped a 10-game losing streak at Jacobs Field during which the Orioles were outscored 60-25.

O’s manager Davey Johnson sort of approached the game like a playoff game, going to the bullpen early (in the fifth inning) when starter Rick Krivda got into trouble despite the big lead.

“I’m going to throw the kitchen sink against them,” Johnson said to the Sun’s Buster Olney. “I felt like if we could get a certain advantage in a matchup, I had to take it.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 8D, August 4, 1996)

Krivda ended up giving up three runs in four-plus innings as Cleveland got as close as 6-3. But relievers Jesse Orosco, Roger McDowell, and Alan Mills combined to give up just one run over the final five innings as the O’s rolled.

Mills had a bit of an adventure in the last two innings after the first batter he faced, Manny Ramirez, launched a solo home run. After that, in the rest of the eighth and then the ninth, the veteran righty gave up four more baserunners (a hit, two walks, and a hit batter) before closing the door. As Olney reported, when catcher Chris Hoiles came up to give him the game ball following the game, Mills took it and rolled it to the backstop.

“It was not a good ball,” Mills joked. “I didn’t want that one.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 8D, August 4, 1996)

Roberto Alomar had three hits and drove in three runs for the Birds. Brady Anderson added his 34th homer of the season, and a heating-up Bobby Bonilla hit his 13th.

Despite the win, the O’s are still six full games back of the White Sox in the wild card race. They will need to pick it up to have any chance.

Here’s the box score with the lovely totals. 

Brady and Bobby blast off.

Brady adds another as his magical season continues.

Orioles (55-53) at Cleveland, (66-44), 1:05 p.m.

Starting Pitchers
BAL – RHP Rocky Coppinger (6-2, 5.30 ERA)
CLE – RHP Dennis Martinez (9-6, 4.37 ERA)

In a hurry to get to their summer vacations, Congress passed a lot of bills, which, among other things, “will reform health insurance, raise the minimum wage, and protect drinking water,” so says the Sun.

“We’ve seen Congress go from gridlock to Olympic gold,” said the segregationist Trent Lott, who is the new Senate Majority Leader after Bob Dole left to run for president. “The last two weeks has probably been my most exciting time in all of my years in Congress over the past 23 years.” Considering what Lott probably considered an “exciting time” in his youth — presumably stuff that would get you in the background of a Civil Rights photo — that quote is nothing if not ominous.

The federal minimum wage will go up from $4.25 per hour to $5.15 an hour in September, 1997. Meh. Again, the current federal minimum wage is $7.25 and hasn’t gone up since 2009.

The health care bill “would guarantee the ‘portability’ of insurance from job to job and ensure access to insurance for anyone with an existing medical condition.” Note the latter one stops at “access” and not “affordability.”

“We’ve come a long way after a great deal of effort, and we’re extraordinarily pleased with the work we’ve been able to do,” said Senate minority leader Tom Daschle. Such an eagerness to settle for less and a fetishization of bipartisanship will be a trademark of the Democratic Party for decades to come.

Anyway, enjoy your vacations, guys. 

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

Hmmm… well, um… a lot to unpack here.