It’s May 11, 1996, and the O’s “shock troops” rallied late to stun the Brewers 5-3 in 10 innings. It’s Baltimore’s third straight win and pulls them to within 1.5 games of the first-place Yankees.

By the end of the game, the Birds’ lineup card hardly made sense. Closer Randy Myers was in the leadoff spot after the O’s gave up the DH when Robbie Alomar came in to play second. Utility man Jeff Huson was in right field for the first time in his career. Tony Tarasco played in center but was sent down to Triple-A Rochester after the game. 

Arthur Rhodes picked up the win with 2⅔ scoreless high leverage innings after a rare solid start by Kent Mercker.

“This was a total team effort in every sense of the word,” said Bobby Bonilla, who tied the game with a sac fly in the ninth in his only plate appearance.

After hardly playing at all for the first five weeks, reserves Manny Alexander and Billy Ripken have started two of the last three games. 

“It’s really important for the bench to be involved,” O’s manager Davey Johnson said of his “shock troops” reserves. (Baltimore Sun, p. 8D, May 12, 1996)

Mercker allowed three runs on just three hits, pitching into the seventh inning. “It was nice to go more than two innings,” he said. “I’ve learned in this league that you don’t have to have your best fastball. I threw 90 percent fastballs today. As long as you put it in the right spot, you’re OK.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 8D, May 12, 1996)

Tarasco’s demotion is surprising, especially to Tarasco. He had made arrangements for his mother and son to fly from Los Angeles and meet him when the team got to Oakland tomorrow night. But instead, he is off to Rochester. He hasn’t set the world on fire — hitting just .238 — but the main reason he is going down is to give Bobby Bonilla more time in right field and also to bring up veteran outfielder Luis Polonia, who will join the team in Oakland.

Tarasco is not pleased. “When I was traded over here, I was told I was going to play right field indefinitely,” he said. “Bobby wanted to start playing right field, and they feel they got to make Bobby happy. … They’ve got to do certain things for certain reasons.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 8D, May 12, 1996)

Johnson thinks Tarasco will be back before long, especially if they can find a way to trade Huson, who isn’t playing hardly at all as the team’s third utility guy. “[Tarasco] is going to help us in the future,” Johnson said. But for now, he is off to the minors and his poor mom and son won’t be seeing him in the Bay Area tomorrow.

In other news, starter David Wells’s gout has not cleared up and he will miss his scheduled start tomorrow. Scott Erickson will start on short rest instead. Brady Anderson’s sore quad kept him out of the lineup again, but he was able to pinch hit so he is getting closer.

Here’s the box score with the lovely totals.

No dingers, but a win is a win.

Orioles (19-16) vs. Brewers (14-19), 2:05 p.m.

Starting Pitchers
BAL – RHP Scott Erickson (2-3, 4.06 ERA)
MIL – LHP Angel Miranda (1-2, 4.56 ERA)

The House passed a new bill that gives tax credits to middle-class families who adopt children. The bill, (what the Sun calls “the Republicans’ adoption bill”) has the support of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton.

As always, the key rule of thumb applies, when you see “bipartisan” just replace it with “cruel” and the sentence still reads correctly.

On the face, and certainly how the Sun frames it, the bill seems reasonable and needed. There are 450,000 kids in foster care. Tax incentives could encourage more adoptions, though are they for the right reasons? And the bill’s provisions to make it easier for interracial couples to adopt is framed as fighting prejudice. But what do child welfare experts say?

The article itself predominantly features anecdotes from six women invited to speak with the First Lady. But those stories are irrelevant when discussing policy that will impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. So they are not worth our time here.

But buried so far past the jump to be almost forgotten, you have this: “Although most lawmakers share Mrs. Clinton’s enthusiasm for adoption legislation – a similar bill has been offered in the Senate – it has encountered some resistance over its provisions to bar efforts to match a child with adoptive parents of the same race. The National Association of Black Social Workers maintains that Black children are better off with Black parents and that interracial adoptions should occur only after attempts to find Black adoptive parents have failed.”

Oh, the Child Welfare League of America also has something to say about it? Are they fans of this GOP plan? No. “In a perfect world, the legislation would be wonderful,” said Shirley Marcus Allen, the deputy director of the Child Welfare League of America. “But in an era of limited financial resources, wouldn’t it be better for the federal government to provide more services, benefits and subsidies to help families adopt children with special needs, children who are otherwise unlikely to be adopted?”

Anyway, we have 30 years of hindsight into yet another shitty policy of the 90s. How shitty was it?

This bill wouldn’t ultimately be signed until 1997 and it was known as the Adoption and Safe Families Act. In a 2022 Washington Post column (syndicated), Dr. Mical Raz, a history professor and practicing physician, had this to say:

Damn, that sounds pretty “bipartisan.” Anyway, there’s another bipartisan effort in the works in 1996, and this one is focused on welfare. Stay tuned.

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

Check out these 1996 life hacks.