It’s June 26, 1996, and we’ll just let the Sun’s Buster Olney’s lede tell this story: “They say everything is big in Texas. That includes big losses and big blown leads, Orioles style.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, June 27, 1996)

Four outs from victory, the O’s decided to lose instead. Juan Gonzalez hit a three-run double off reliever Alan Mills as the Rangers stormed back from a 5-1 deficit to win 6-5.

The O’s jumped out to an early lead when Rafael Palmeiro blasted a 3-run homer in the first inning. Rookie starter Rocky Coppinger was making that lead hold up. He had given up just one run into the sixth inning, but he twisted his knee on the mound and had to leave the game. The bullpen provided little relief as five runs scored across the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings.

Struggling outfielder Luis Polonia, hitless in 18 at bats coming into the game, started in left field and broke out of his slump with a single. He had been playing designated hitter in his last several starts, but O’s manager Davey Johnson opted to put him in the field to see if that would get him going. “Maybe he’s got Bonilla disease, I don’t know,” Johnson said, once again needling the star outfielder who has been outspoken about not liking to play designated hitter.

With the loss the Birds fell to 4.5 games back of the Yankees in the AL East. The Orioles head to the Bronx to face the Yankees tomorrow.

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

With the trade deadline roughly a month away, there is already some chatter about how the O’s could improve their roster. The problem is that the Orioles farm system isn’t particularly strong, so they don’t have a lot to trade. It is possible that they could trade from their major-league roster.

Olney also has a fun story about major-league home run leader Brady Anderson, who has 26 homers and is on pace for 57, 10 more than Hank Aaron ever hit in a season. Olney has Anderson talk about some of the great sluggers of today’s game (Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Albert Belle, Mo Vaughn) and how Brady is now among them.

“Those other guys are guys who just hit homers whereas I’m the type who has the ability to hit homers, but I’m not necessarily a home run hitter. … But with what I’m doing right now, it’d be cool to stay with those other guys awhile.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 5D, June 27, 1996)

After talking about each slugger individually for a while, Brady laughed again and said to Olney, “C’mon man, stop psyching me out.”

Raffy adds another brick against his former team.

Orioles (40-34) at Yankees (45-30) 7:35 p.m.
BAL – RHP Scott Erickson (4-5, 5.12 ERA)
NYY – LHP Kenny Rogers (5-3, 4.27 ERA)

As has been the case for the last two months, the number one song in America this week is “Tha Crossroads” by Cleveland’s finest, Bone Thugs N Harmony. So let’s look at a different chart. Oooooh, number one on the R&B charts is Maryland’s favorite daughter, Toni Braxton, with “You’re Makin’ Me High.” Enjoy!

A truck bomb killed at least 19 Americans in military housing in Saudi Arabia. According to Sun reporter Gilbert A. Lewthwaite, the Pentagon said that the blast left a crater 85 feet long and 35 feet deep.

The article says “the toll would be the highest for a bomb blast against Americans since the 1983 attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 241 U.S. servicemen.” That somewhat conveniently forgets that 168 Americans were killed just a year ago by a bomb set off by right-wing American extremist Timothy McVeigh.

President Bill Clinton was mad, railing against a “murderous act” committed by “cowards.” “The explosion appears to be the work of terrorists, and if that is the case, like all Americans I am outraged by it,” Bubba said.

No organized group was claiming responsibility for the bombing at time of publication in the Sun.

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

The NBA Draft is coming up! Here’s the Sun’s Jerry Bembry’s mock draft. Georgetown guard Allen Iverson is projected to go #1.