It’s May 12, 1996, and the Orioles made some silly mistakes — and starter Scott Erickson struggled on short rest — as the Brewers won 6-4 to avoid being swept at home by the Birds.

“Little things that we’re capable of doing,” said O’s manager Davey Johnson, “that can be the difference between winning and losing, and we’re not doing them.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1C, May 13, 1996)

“Everything just went bad today,” added first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, who drove in all four runs with a pair of homers, his first in more than three weeks. “We came back and won the last two games, but you can’t keep playing bad and expect to win like we’ve been doing.”

A failed sacrifice bunt, a couple missed plays in the field, and several costly walks all added up to a missed opportunity to keep the momentum going.

“We didn’t do some things right today that were kind of annoying,” said Billy Ripken. “A couple of circus plays when stuff is flying all over the place. It shouldn’t happen with our team, but it has.”

The silver lining today was the breakout game for Palmeiro, who has been very consistent over his career but had been struggling the last three weeks.

“Hitting is such a weird thing,” Palmeiro said. “Players go through slumps, and you don’t understand why it happens. It was just a bad streak. Maybe the next one will be as good as this one was bad.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 6C, May 13, 1996)

With Brady Anderson still out of the lineup with a sore quad, Luis Polonia made his Orioles debut and led off. “I’m just glad I’m back,” he said about being in the majors again. (Baltimore Sun, p. 6C, May 13, 1996)

Down in the minors, prospect outfielder Mark Smith is “beyond frustrated” that the O’s looked to Polonia instead of him, despite the fact that he’s off to a very hot start at Rochester. “I thought I’d go up,” Smith said. “I don’t want to make myself or the organization look bad by saying what I’d like to say. I’d rather keep my mouth shut, but I am beyond frustrated.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 6C, May 13, 1996)

Erickson started on three-days’ rest because of David Wells having gout in his toe. The O’s had hoped to just push Wells back a day, but Rick Krivda will have to start in his place tomorrow in Oakland. Hopefully Boomer is back soon.

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

Two bricks for Raffy!

Orioles (19-17) vs. Athletics (19-17), 10:05 p.m.

Starting Pitchers
BAL – LHP Rick Krivda (0-0, 13.50 ERA)
OAK – LHP Doug Johns (3-3, 4.53 ERA)

The front page has some sad news out of Florida. A ValuJet Airlines flight crashed in the Everglades shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport. There were 109 people on board and no survivors.

The wire story on the front page quotes private pilot Daniel Muelhaupt, who saw the plane go down and thought he’d dabble in some figurative language. “When it hit the ground, the water and dirt flew up,” he said. “The wreckage was like if you take your garbage and just throw it on the ground. It looked like that.” Thanks, Daniel. (Baltimore Sun, p. 1A, May 12, 1996)

The story also interviews Terry Huckabee, who was supposed to be on the flight but missed it. In a “now’s not the time, Terry” moment, he shared his ordeal. “I lost a dollar in the vending machine and I said, ‘I’m having a bad day, I missed my flight I lost a dollar in the vending machine,’” he said. “They said, ‘No, you’re the luckiest man alive. It’s lucky you missed your flight.’” 

The last major crash in the U.S. prior to this was in September of 1994, when a USAir jet crashed near Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the last one this summer.

There was much scrutiny of ValuJet’s cost-cutting practices following the crash, and it’s fleet was cut considerably by the end of the year. By mid-1997, it merged with a smaller company and was rebranded as AirTrain Airlines. Southwest Airlines bought AirTran in 2011.

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

Baltimore’s own Sam Cassell is a two-time NBA champion and a hot commodity.