It’s July 6, 1996, and O’s rookie Rocky Coppinger went toe to toe with his childhood hero and came out on top. The 22-year-old gave up three runs in 5⅔ innings, but Roger Clemens gave up four in six, and the bullpens kept it there as the O’s beat the Red Sox 4-3.

It was just Coppinger’s sixth career start. Meanwhile, Clemens is a three-time Cy Young winner and former American League MVP. They are both from Texas.

“I tried not to look at him,” Coppinger told the Sun’s Buster Olney about warming up before the game next to Clemens in the bullpens. “But I couldn’t help it. I heard the glove popping over there.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 8D, July 7, 1996)

“I got to watch him a little bit,” Clemens said. “It’s great to see young guys try to pick up on how you do certain things, just like I did with Nolan [Ryan] and [Tom] Seaver. It’s nice to see how he admires me now, just like I did Nolan and Seaver.” 

Rafael Palmeiro and B.J. Surhoff each homered off of Clemens to back Coppinger’s strong outing. Reggie Jefferson and Lee Tinsley homered off of Coppinger for Boston.

There was significant cause for concern for the O’s as All-Star second baseman Roberto Alomar sprained the ring finger on his left hand. He is doubtful to play in the series finale against the Red Sox tomorrow and could miss the All Star game on Tuesday. Alomar is hitting .352 on the season.

“I hope I can [play in the All-Star Game].” Alomar said to the Sun’s Jason LaCanfora. “If it can’t happen, it can’t happen. It’s an honor going to the All-Start Game, but I can’t go out there if I can’t play.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, July 7, 1996)

Here’s the box score with the lovely totals.

In other news from Olney and LaCanfora, the O’s placed veteran catcher Chris Hoiles on outright waivers within the last few weeks, meaning that any team could have picked him up for $20,000. But no team was interested in taking on the final 3.5 years of his five-year $17.25 million contract. Hoiles is hitting .222 with 11 homers and 28 RBIs, which seems fine for a starting catcher, but what do I know?

Raffy and B.J. are back on the wall.

Orioles (46-38) at Red Sox (35-49) 8:05 p.m.
BOS – RHP Tom Gordon (6-4, 6.32 ERA)
BAL – RHP Scott Erickson (5-6, 4.73 ERA)

The Dow tumbled 114 points yesterday because the jobs report was too good. The economy added 239,000 jobs across many kinds of businesses, and unemployment hit a six-year low at 5.3 percent.

The stock market was also mad because average hourly earnings went up by 9 cents in June to $11.82, the largest one-month rise since the government started tracking in 1965.

The Sun’s Jay Hancock lays out why some are upset about more jobs and higher wages. “The declining unemployment rate in recent months had already raised inflation concerns among some economists, because as available labor grows scarce, employers must bid higher for hires. The rising June wage figures struck some as corroboration of their fears.” Really cool.

“The basic message here is that the economy is running well above the speed limit for this stage of an expansion,” said Robert Dederick, some economic consultant. “We are beginning to see some signs of inflationary pressures emerging as a result.”

I guess we better turn up the knob that says “human suffering” so we can get those stocks going in the right direction.

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

Ah well, nevertheless…