It’s June 30, 1996, and David Wells threw a complete-game four-hitter as the O’s won 9-1 to salvage a split of a four-game series with the Yanks in the Bronx.

As the Sun’s Buster Olney notes, “three weeks ago [O’s manager Davey] Johnson and [pitching coach Pat] Dobson were having a hard time getting five innings out of their starters. Now they have to fight to get them out of the game.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted to [relieve] him, even if he had 150 pitches,” Johnson said of Wells. “I probably would’ve gotten a head-butt.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1C, July 1, 1996)

Brady Anderson hit his major-league-leading 27th homer, and Robbie Alomar added his 11th, as eight different O’s had at least one hit in the rout. The Birds jumped on Yankees starter Ramiro Mendoza, chasing him in the third inning after scoring six times. They never looked back.

“Coming in and winning two of four is just OK,” Johnson said of the split with the Yankees, which leaves the O’s 4½ games back in the AL East. “We needed to win three of four. But that’s OK. It’s a long season.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1C, July 1, 1996)

The story of the game today was Wells, who seems to be pulling things together after a prolonged rough patch. “He’s doing a better job of concentrating from pitch to pitch,” Dobson said. “He’s staying focused, not worrying about whatever — not getting upset about an umpire, things like that. And as a result, he’s been a lot better overall.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 5C, July 1, 1996) 

In the last couple games, Johnson has moved Brady out of the leadoff spot, opting instead for Alomar in the role. As we all know, Brady has been killing it in the role all season, but by moving him down, Johnson is hoping he can drive in more runs, especially since Alomar leads the league in batting.

At the time of the switch, Johnson said, “I know Brady is going to feel terrible.” But the Sun’s Jason LaCanfora followed up with Brady and he’s OK with it.

“I want to win and I’ll do anything it takes to win,” Anderson said. “At times in the past maybe I fought hard to remain a leadoff hitter. Before I thought I was the best leadoff hitter for the team. From what I recall, I just told [Johnson] I want to play.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 5C, July 1, 1996)

Here’s the box score with the lovely totals.

The next stop on this critical road trip is Toronto, which means Alomar will be returning to the city where he was once a hero on two championship teams. “I’m just going to go play baseball,” Alomar said about the reunion. “I had some great years, some great moments, in Toronto. I hope [the fans] remember that.”

Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston has urged fans to give Alomar a warm reception. But after leaving via free agency for a division rival, it seems likely he will hear a chorus of boos.

With Robbie and Brady’s bricks added to the wall today, the O’s are halfway to the record with just over half the season remaining. They are on track to do it!

Let’s check where Brady’s at: 27 homers before July! Whoa!

Orioles (42-36) at Blue Jays (36-44) 1:05 p.m.
BAL – RHP Rocky Coppinger (2-0, 5.12 ERA)
TOR – RHP Pat Hentgen (7-5, 3.89 ERA)

It’s the Sunday Sun paper today so we have a lot of features on the front page. There’s one looking back 50 years at how, following World War II, hundreds of weddings taxed local Baltimore churches, event spaces, and clothiers. It is a charming story.

But there’s also a less charming one about the rash of arson attacks on Black churches throughout the South. In a very, let’s say “interesting,” editorial decision. The story starts by centering … a white teenager arrested for burning a church? Then the story talks to a South Carolina cop who questions whether race is always a factor in these attacks. In fact, while the art accompanying the story on the front page is a photo of the Rev. Aiken R. Ruth of Barnwell, S.C., they don’t even talk to him or any Black parishioner until after the jump.

Anyway, here’s the very weird lede from Sun reporter Ginger Thompson:

The next paragraph says, unironically, that cops across the South “struggle to explain why more than 60 black churches have been burned in the last year and a half.” I mean, is it hard to explain?

The story is probably close to 3,000 words, and after we briefly meet Rev. Ruth and he tells us he and his congregation are "heartbroken," we are right back to talking about Emerson, who is apparently the hero of this tale.

Thompson helps Emerson clarify that he actually really doesn’t like the Ku Klux Klan, despite knowing where they meet.

“They have meetings all the time in the woods back there,” he said of the Klan. “But I don’t listen to anything they say. Once they was having a rally and I ran over to them and tore up their signs. Fact is, they all hate me because I have more black friends than white.”

At the end of the story we finally do learn about the church’s deacon, Willie Simmons, who has lost part of his identity with the church burned. “In church, I took care of the people, the young and the old,” he said. “I helped with all kinds of problems. When their kids was bad or they was fighting with their wife, they called me. If they needed money, I would go and give them what I could.”

He has hosted 10 to 15 church members in his trailer every other Sunday since the fire. “I know this old house don’t look like much, but it’s free to St. John’s for as long as needed.”

Anyway, the 1990s Sun sure contained multitudes…

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

Ready for some good news about laxatives?