It’s May 8, 1996, and the O’s couldn’t figure out White Sox starter James Baldwin, while Chicago easily figured out the Baltimore pitching en route to an 11-2 win. 

The loss dropped the O’s back to .500 at an even 16-16. The 11-2 start is a distant memory. 

Orioles starter Scott Erickson gave up seven runs (six earned) in less than five innings. It was already 8-0 when Jeffrey Hammonds broke up the shutout with a home run in the sixth. It was a forgettable day for the Birds.

“We ain’t this bad,” said O’s manager Davey Johnson. “I’ll tell you that.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1D, May 9, 1996)

It’s especially tough to lose back-to-back games started by David Wells and Erickson, two of the three reliable starters on the roster.

“Those three gotta win,” an anonymous O’s player told the Sun’s Ken Rosenthal. “We don't even know who the other two are.”

Robin Ventura hit a three-run homer for the Sox, and former Oriole Harold Bains added a double and a two-run single. That would be all Baldwin would need. He gave up two runs over six innings as the Sox cruised.

Brady Anderson sat out to rest his sore quad. Hopefully he won’t be out long.

The vibes are quite bad in Baltimore. As Rosenthal notes, in just 21 games they have lost nine games in the standings to New York. What was once a 4.5 game lead is now a 4.5 game deficit. But it’s a long season and they’ll just have to start over again from .500.

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

The baseball world was shook this week when Dodgers outfielder Brett Butler revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer of the tonsils. Many, though not Butler, tied the diagnosis to his history of chewing tobacco.

The news has some of the O’s thinking about their life choices, including catcher Gregg Zaun, who has chewed tobacco for a decade. “I was up to two cans a day,” he said. “You can get 10 dips out of every can. That means I had up to 20 for every 24 hours. That’s incredible … I’d be lying in bed at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning, and I’d realize I didn’t have any left. ‘Oh, no.’ I’d actually get up, get dressed and go out to a [gas station] and get some. That’s ridiculous.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 5D, May 9, 1996)

“For me,” he concluded. “It’s time to stop.” 

Jeffrey Hammonds gets a brick.

Orioles (16-16) vs. White Sox (18-14), 8:05 p.m.

Starting Pitchers
BAL – RHP Mike Mussina (4-2, 3.86 ERA)
CHW – LHP Wilson Alvarez (2-2, 3.63 ERA)

The #1 song in America the week of May 8, 1996, is once again “Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey. So let’s look down at a different chart. This week the #1 song on the R&B charts is Cleveland’s finest, Bone Thugs N Harmony, with “Tha Crossroads.” RIP Uncle Charles.

The Department of Justice may sue Maryland over the horrible treatment of “Supermax” prisoners. The Feds say the state is violating civil rights by providing “grossly deficient” mental health services and keeping people almost completely secluded from natural light and fresh air.

The investigators detailed a notorious “pink room,” which the Sun describes as “filthy” and “fetid” where prison guards would put people in wearing nothing but underwear, handcuffs and leg irons.

Don’t worry, state officials say there’s nothing to see here. Corrections Commissioner Richard Lanham, apparently not realizing that it is not great when you have to start a sentence with “There is nothing unconstitutional about…” decided to finish the sentence anyway with “the way Supermax is operated. It’s run in accordance with the Eighth Amendment, and they get all the basics.”

For a refresher, the Eighth Amendment says, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

I guess if you’re ol’ Dick Lanham there is nothing cruel or unusual about the “pink room,” but the feds — and this is Bill Clinton’s “Tough on Crime” feds, by the way — disagree.

People were forced to “use a hole in the floor as a toilet,” said U.S. Attorney General Deval Patrick. “The cell was filthy, covered with old feces and urine. Because hands were chained to waists, inmates were usually forced to urinate or defecate on themselves. Inmates in the pink room could not feed themselves with their hands due to the restraints.” 

Ida Wright’s son Diverel was held in the Supermax, and she had a simple plea: “I don’t think they should be treating you like no animal. They should treat you like a human being.” 

Richard Lanham, nor anyone else, ever faced charges for operating a torture chamber.

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

Good comic.