It’s March 2, 1996, and the Orioles traveled to Viera, Fla., for their first official spring training game against the Marlins. It went about as well as you could hope, with the O’s winning 10-1. Birdland held its breath when ace pitcher Mike Mussina — presumed Opening Day starter on April 1 — took a line drive off his shin, resulting with what Buster Olney of The Baltimore Sun described as a “sizable welt.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 7D, March 3, 1996) But Mussina isn’t concerned, so neither are we.

Yesterday we talked about the off-the-field labor context surrounding this upcoming season, and today we’ll look at what’s going on between the lines heading into 1996. In short, baseball has the runs — lots of them. It is a very good environment for hitting. In the strike shortened seasons of 1994 and 1995, teams were nearing 5 runs scored per game, a figure that hadn’t been reached since 1900.

A driving factor of this is a marked increase in power. In 1994, we saw teams average more than 1 home run per game for the first time, and that continued in 1995. Will the power surge continue in 1996? Seems likely. The main thing we need to keep in mind is that given this environment, what constitutes a “good” pitching performance might seem much worse than what it used to. The league average ERA (average earned runs given up over 9 innings) in 1995 was 4.45. In 1990, it was 3.85. 

Now, we need to have an obvious aside here because we have 30 years of hindsight and we know what happened within a decade of 1996. But before you ask, there really hasn’t been that much discussion about steroids in baseball, so for the most part, we are still assuming that a lot of these guys are doing incredible ab workouts like Roger Clemens was doing in 2002. We know now that the offensive binge of the 90s into the 2000s is referred to as the Steroid Era, and that in addition to doing a lot of crunches, Clemens was also doing steroids. But in 1996 we are at the beginning of that era, and we are here for it! We love runs! We love dingers! 

However, it is not like no one is talking about it. In mid-July 1995, Bob Nightengale of the Los Angeles Times, in a small column below the fold on the front page of the sports section, wrote that “Steroids Become an Issue.” He spoke with a number of stars and also MLB commissioner Bud Selig. San Diego Padres GM Randy Smith guessed that “10% to 20%” of players were using, colorfully adding, “They know it can take five years off their lives, but then they say, ‘OK, so I die when I’m 75 instead of 80.’”

Selig, ever the steroid watchdog (lol) was in peak form: “If baseball has a problem, I must say candidly that we were not aware of it. It certainly hasn’t been talked about much. But should we concern ourselves as an industry? I don’t know. Maybe it’s time to bring it up again.”  Man, that is some 100% pure Selig. Goes down smooth. Baseball fans got a lot of this patronizing prevarication over the next decade, but in 1996, we are more focused on Selig fucking up the labor negotiations and are not yet concerned with all the other things he’s fucking up.

But if you are wondering, some players are also concerned. Padres star Tony Gwynn, for example, said “It’s like the big secret we’re not supposed to talk about, but believe me, we wonder just like the rest of people. I’m standing out there in the outfield when a guy comes up, and I’m thinking, ‘Hey, I wonder if this guy is on steroids.’” You heard it, one of the greatest hitters to ever live is just like us. But his follow up question will be one that will haunt the game for decades: “I think we all have our suspicions who’s on the stuff, but unless someone comes out and admits to it, who’ll ever know for sure?” 

For now, in 1996, we are not thinking much about steroids. We are thinking about scoring runs, lots of them. But what transpires on the field over the next six months, particularly one Oriole’s unexpected power surge, will have more people asking Gwynn’s question. And while that chorus will grow louder in the years to come, it's important to remember that the cloud that forever hangs over 1996 is mostly one formed in hindsight, because as I said earlier, at the time we are having a blast.

Before the regular season begins, the Orioles have a month to determine the 25 players who will head north as part of the Opening Day roster. On Saturday, March 2, Baltimore Sun reporter Buster Olney took a look at life on the roster bubble. (Baltimore Sun, p. C1, March 2, 1996) Veteran Jeff Huson has played all over the field in his career, from shortstop to second to third to the outfield. He played 66 games for the O’s in 1995 and is now trying to make the team.

It’s a tough life living in roster limbo, and in a frank interview with Olney, Huson discussed the pressure of not knowing where you stand and how sometimes guys might secretly root against teammates vying for the same job. “I’ve never seen that done openly, but you know that deep down inside, that happens.” Huson is competing with former touted prospect Manny Alexander and Bill Ripken (brother of Cal and known for iconic “Fuck Face” baseball card) for one of the final spots on the roster.

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