It’s March 7, 1996, and the vibes pendulum has swung back heavily in the O’s favor following a 14-1 preseason victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla. Second baseman Roberto Alomar, the Blue Jays legend who signed with the Orioles this offseason, insisted on playing his former team in the exhibition game, showing them what they’re missing out on with three hits, three RBIs, and a stolen base. (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, March 8, 1996)

After spending the last two days checking in on new faces at manager and in the front office, now is as good a time as any to highlight the biggest addition on the field.

Roberto Alomar was born in February 1968 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Like his new teammate, Cal Ripken, Jr., Alomar is from a baseball family. His father, Sandy, played 14 seasons in the major leagues, making the 1970 All Star game as a member of the California Angels. Robbie’s older brother, Sandy Jr., is also in the majors, playing catcher for Cleveland, winning American League Rookie of the Year in 1990 and having made three All Star games entering the 1996 season.

It’s an impressive lineage, and Robbie may be the best of all of them. He plays his father’s position, second base, and is the best in the league at it. He broke into the majors at 20 years old in 1988 with the Padres and was immediately an impact defender. By 1990 he was an All Star, and has been one every year since. Following that 1990 season, the Padres traded him and Joe Carter to the Blue Jays for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff in a blockbuster trade orchestrated by Jays GM Pat Gillick.

Alomar immediately became a central cog in a borderline dynastic run with the Jays. In the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 1992 American League Championship Series, Alomar faced Oakland superstar closer Dennis Eckersley with the Jays down 6-4 and the hometown A’s threatening to tie the series at two games apiece. The resulting home run has often been seen as a franchise-altering moment in Toronto. The team would go on to win that series and then the World Series, and repeated as champs in 1993.

I remember seeing Alomar’s defensive wizardry on display as a kid at Memorial Stadium in 1991. He ranged far to his right and dove — he may have been the only second baseman on earth who could get there — snagged the ball and fired to first for the out. I remember telling my little league teammates all about it, never imagining that one day the star would be on the O’s. (I’m pretty sure this happened, but we are relying on the memory of an 8-year-old here.)

But now he is here and he is in the heart of his prime. Just before Christmas in December 1995, Alomar signed a three-year, $18 million deal with Baltimore. It’s now time for what The Baltimore Sun's Ken Rosenthal dubs “The Rip and Robbie Show.” Ripken has played with at least 30 second basemen since he came up with the O’s on July 1, 1982, but none of them are Alomar. Now the two are set to instantly become the league’s marquee duo up the middle. “Name a better double-play combination, not just in Orioles history, but in the history of the game,” said Rosenthal. (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, December 22, 1995)

Orioles manager Davey Johnson was at the dentist when he got the call. It was Gillick, “Well, you’ve got yourself an All-Star second baseman.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, December 22, 1995) In addition to his otherworldly defense, Alomar hits from both sides of the plate exceptionally well, having hit .300 or better each of the past four seasons and has driven in 499 runs so far in his career. He’s also stolen nearly 300 bases.

But while the Orioles celebrate the new arrival, north of the border there are questions being raised about the star player’s attitude that seem a bit more noteworthy than just sour grapes. You see, what I didn’t know as a kid at the time is that Robbie’s end in Toronto was…eventful. In addition to having a credible threat on his life, Alomar asked to sit out a game after the Jays threw in the towel by trading away star pitcher David Cone mid-season, and then Alomar sat out the final four games with a ‘back injury’ in a move some saw as protecting a batting average that sat exactly at .300. (The Hamilton Spectator, p. 19, October 2, 1995)

In the weeks following the season, more questions started to emerge about Alomar as a player and leader, the origins of which were pretty suspicious, especially since most of the criticism centers on his agent’s “outrageous” salary demand of 3 years, $25 million. Stephen Brunt of The Globe and Mail noted the Jays’ bad faith disparaging of their star in a column more sympathetic to Alomar than most titled “Blue Jays cast Alomar in bad light”:

So now we see why Alomar asked to face his former team in spring training today, and why it felt extra satisfying for him to stick it to them on the field. However, are there legitimate concerns that his squeaky clean image might be a mirage, or is that just bluster from salty executives upon losing a star player to a division rival? We’ll have three years in Baltimore to find out. One thing’s for sure, Robbie came here to win.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: We will do a “Where are they now?” of all the characters from this 1996 team at the end of the season. There we will cover what has happened in the decades since, which, for some guys like Alomar, will raise some even more concerning character questions. But for now, we are operating with what we knew at the time.)

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

This was a massive ad (⅓ of a page) in the Sun today from C-Mart. Graphic design is obviously their passion, as is narrative storytelling. Since the handwriting is a little tough, here’s my favorite part.

“This book + CD store opened a brand new store one month before the blizzard and I guess the builder didn’t do too good a job because part of the roof gave way. Their price stickers are on every item but we will charge you only ½ their price.”

Man, what a deal.