It’s June 19, 1996, and the O’s just can’t beat the Rangers. Bobby Witt outdueled Mike Mussina, pitching a shutout into the ninth before Texas held on for a 3-2 win in Baltimore.

Birds manager Davey Johnson is frustrated that the O’s struggle against good teams while racking up wins against the bottom feeders of the AL.

“We need to start beating these clubs,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re not getting up, or not getting the job done. That was kind of a dying gasp at the end.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, June 20, 1996)

The dying gasp came in the ninth inning when Bobby Bonilla broke up the shutout with a homer. Cal Ripken followed with a double and B.J. drove him home with a single. Chris Hoiles followed but his bid for a game-winning homer ended on the warning track.

Mike Mussina was solid, holding the Rangers to three runs through seven innings and striking out eight. But Witt was better. Ah well, on to the next game.

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

The next game was supposed to be later tonight but instead a powerful thunderstorm ended up postponing it until tomorrow afternoon.

With the weather rotten all week, the Sun’s Ken Rosenthal penned a column celebrating the grounds crew and shading the O’s. “Night in and night out, there’s a man in uniform hustling all over the field for the Orioles. Too bad it’s the groundskeeper. Paul ‘MVP’ Zwaska has his crew laying down the tarp with an intensity rarely shown by the players under clear skies.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, June 20, 1996)

In other news, Kent Mercker was officially demoted to the bullpen. Rick Krivda will take his place in the rotation. “Right now, obviously, I have no business being up here starting,” Mercker said. “Going to the bullpen is probably the best thing for me and the team. This is the first time I’ve been embarrassed on the mound. I never thought I’d say that about pitching. It’s terrible.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, June 20, 1996)

We’ll see if Mercker can get it straightened out in the bullpen and if Krivda can be an answer in the rotation.

Though the o’s have lost six of 10, they haven’t lost much ground on the Yankees, who have also been scuffling some. The Yanks currently have a 3-game lead in the division. And the O’s have actually been gaining ground on the White Sox in the wild card. The Sox have lost five straight and are four games ahead of the Birds. 

Bobby Bonilla’s late homer adds a brick.

Rangers (43-27) vs. Orioles (36-31), 4:05 p.m.

Starting Pitchers
TEX – RHP Kevin Gross (7-4, 5.38 ERA)
BAL – LHP David Wells (3-6, 5.71 ERA)

The number one song in America, believe it our not, is still from Cleveland’s finest, Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony, and it’s “Tha Crossroads.” So this week we’ll go over to the dance charts, where the top song is “Wrong” by Everything But the Girl. Get to dancing!

New Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in during what the Sun refers to as a Cabinet crisis. At 46, he is the youngest Israeli prime minister ever. His cabinet is in crisis because one of his allies, war criminal Ariel Sharon, expected to get the coveted spot as leader of the Housing Ministry. When he didn’t get the appointment, he threw a fit and refused to join the government. Fellow right wing maniac David Levy, who was named Foreign Minister, opted not to show up in solidarity with Sharon.

Former prime minister Shimon Peres will remain involved in the government as leader of the opposition. He is urging Netanyahu to honor the peace negotiations with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians. “I am not ashamed to have walked with Arafat,” Peres said in the article by Sun foreign correspondent Doug Struck. He waved a finger at Bibi, adding “You, too, will walk with Araftat if you are serious about what you said [about wanting peace].”

How serious is Bibi about peace? Well, in his speech he praised some of Israel’s most violent extremists. “We will encourage the pioneering settlement of the Land of Israel, in the Negev, Galilee, Judea and Samaria [West Bank] and Gaza Strip and Golan Heights. The settlers are the true pioneers of our time and deserve our full support and appreciation.”

Even 30 years ago he was unequivocal about wanting the total annihilation of the Palestinian people.

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

Did I mention the O’s have been playing some long games?