It’s July 4, 1996, and though they made it a lot more interesting than it should have been, the O’s offensive fireworks helped them hold on for an 8-6 win over the Red Sox.

Mike Mussina pitched eight strong innings, leaving with an 8-2 lead. But Roger McDowell couldn’t get anyone out. All four hitters he faced reached base and later scored, including a homer by Jose Canseco. But closer Randy Myers came in and got reigning MVP Mo Vaughn out with two men on base to seal the win and collect his 17th save of the season.

“I’ve got to restart my heart,” O’s manager Davey Johnson said afterwards, according to the Sun’s Buster Olney. (Baltimore Sun, p. 1C, July 5, 1996)

The O’s scored six runs off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Cal Ripken, Jr., Mike Devereaux, and Luis Polonia all homered for the Birds.

With 130 homers on the season, the O’s are on pace to catch the 1961 Yankees’ record of 240 homers on the season. When the Sun’s Jason LaCanfora asked Brady Anderson — who leads the majors with 29 dingers — if the group of sluggers needed a nickname, like the Murderers Row of the 1930s Yankees or the Big Red Machine of the 1970s Reds, Brady said not so fast. “No, not yet. We haven’t won anything yet.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1C, July 5, 1996)

Catcher Chris Hoiles had a few suggestions. “The winners, that’s what we need. Maybe the Yardbirds? I don’t know. As long as I’m in the 20-home run club I don’t care what they call us.”

After hitting a homer today, Devereaux noted he was doing his part. “My four homers are just rolling this team,” he laughed. “I’m picking up the slack big-time. … I’m not the guy to decide the nickname. I only have four.” 

Roberto Alomar, who was once flirting with a .400 average, was 0-for-5, dropping his average to .355. He is hitting just .227 in his last 25 games after his 22-game hitting streak ended on June 9.

Here’s the box score with the lovely totals.

Homer Happy

Cal, Devo, and Polonia get back on the wall.

Orioles (45-37) at Red Sox (34-48) 7:35 p.m.
BOS – RHP Aaron Sele (2-5, 6.22 ERA)
BAL – LHP David Wells (5-7, 5.17 ERA)

Boris Yeltsin cruised to victory in the Russian election, defeating a Communist challenge by Gennady Zyuganov. As the Sun reports, with 92% of the vote in, Yeltsin leads 53.55% to 40.55%. The Sun also says, “It was a huge comeback for the tarnished hero of democracy.”

Yeltsin has some warts on his record, including the ongoing war in Chechnya and the pair of heart attacks. Apparently his popularity was down into single digits in February. The Sun talked to a 38-year-old Moscow economist named Natalya Sofina, who probably summed up what the electorate was thinking: “I voted for reform, not so much for Yeltsin,” she said. “I didn’t want to go back to the old ways. I didn’t want to see empty [grocery] shelves like we used to have.” Very well, we’ll see what the future holds for Yeltsin. Who knows, maybe a little known First Deputy Chairman of the St. Petersburg City Government will end up in his administration.

In more salacious front page news, the Israeli media is having a field day with a nanny scandal involving new president Benjamin Netanyahu. The family’s 21-year-old nanny was fired recently and went straight to the daily newspaper Ma’ariv to tell all. Sun foreign correspondent Ann LoLordo says Bibi, with his “telegenic good looks and catchy sound bites, now has an “American-style political headache — a blabbing nanny.” 

Oh shit! What kind of juicy details is she spilling? A “nanny scandal” could mean anything! Oh, well, it seems she was fired for burning a pot of soup and fighting with Bibi’s wife, Sara, about it. Eh, not very salacious, I guess. But there’s more! Sara, uh, makes everyone wash their hands before touching the kids. “Even Bibi has to wash his hands. … He loves the children but can’t touch them because he has to wash his hands all the time,” said the nanny, Tanya Shaw. Um, okay… How is Bibi taking this? Well, his office called it “imaginative, mendacious.” 

Anyway, this is a nothingburger, but still a front page story in Baltimore for some reason. 

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

A New-Deal-era WPA mural is getting a restoration at a post office in Hagerstown. The country is capable of doing cool stuff. Happy 4th everyone!