It’s September 2, 1996, and Todd Zeile hit two of the Orioles’ five homers as they steamrolled Shawn Boskie and the Angels 12-8 in Anaheim.

It was sweet revenge for the O’s after Boskie shut them out a week ago. It was also the first big moment for Zeile with the Birds after coming over from Philadelphia with Pete Incaviglia a few days ago.

“The Orioles should rid themselves of uniforms and don red plaid shirts,” wrote the Sun’s Buster Olney to start his game story. Let’s see where this goes: “Swing axes in the on-deck circle, instead of bats weighted down with sand-filed doughnuts. Forget the cleaners and go with work boots. Call the Hammermill paper company to be a sponsor. They all swing like lumberjacks anyway, so why not?” (Baltimore Sun, p. 1C, September 3, 1996)

Uh, yeah, what he said.

The O’s now lead the majors with 221 home runs and they are on pace to smash the 1961 Yankees’ record of 240 homers in a season.

“The homers Zeile hit tonight, I might check [his bat],” joked center fielder Brady Anderson, alluding to last night’s bat checking shenanigans in Seattle. “They were bullets. It’s by far the best offensive team I’ve ever played on.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 6C, September 3, 1996)

A few days after Boskie shut them out, the O’s blitzed him with four home runs and seven runs in just three-plus innings. In addition to Zeile’s two homers, Anderson hit his 42nd of the season and Bobby Bonilla and Chris Hoiles each added their 24th. Eight orioles had at least one hit and all nine reached base safely at least once.

Mike Mussina gave up four runs over seven innings to earn his 18th win of the season. He is one victory away from his career high.

Eddie Murray is still stuck on 499 career homers. The O’s are tied with the White Sox atop the wild card standings.

Here’s the box score with the lovely totals.

The O’s called up Eugene Kingsale to be a pinch runner and defensive replacement. When he enters a game, the 20-year-old will be the first ever Aruban to make it to the Major Leagues. He was stunned to get the call. “I was chilling at home,” he said. (Baltimore Sun, p. 6C, September 3, 1996)

A day later, Bonilla is still a little salty that Mariners manager Lou Piniella asked MLB to check his bat for illegal corking.

“They can check all of my bats if they want,” Bonilla said. “But they aren’t going to find anything, because there isn’t anything to find.”  (Baltimore Sun, p. 6C, September 3, 1996)

O’s manager Davey Johnson, who retaliated by having M’s star Alex Rodriguez’s bat confiscated, was less upset today. “Lou was not in a good mood,” he said of Piniella. “Because he lost two games in a row and should’ve lost three. He was just trying to be ornery, as Lou can be. I thought it was all rather humorous, rather than distasteful.”

So many dingers! Two for Zeile and one each for Brady, Bobby, and Hoiles. The Wall’s almost full!

Brady’s at 42 now! How high can he go??? Another row of sideburns maybe?

Orioles (73-64) at Angels (63-75), 10:05 p.m.

Starting Pitchers
BAL – RHP Rocky Coppinger (8-5, 5.55 ERA)
CAL – RHP Pep Harris (0-0 6.14 ERA)

Over 64,000 fans packed Memorial Stadium to see the NFL return to Baltimore for the first time in 13 years. It was the largest number of fans to ever see a football game in Baltimore, and they were treated to a show as the Ravens era kicked off with a 19-14 win over the Raiders.

“It probably doesn’t get much better than this,” said Ravens head coach Ted Marchibroda in a front page article in the Sun. “It’s a shame we have to play 15 more.”

The NFL’s return was a long time coming after owner Bob Irsay snuck the beloved Colts out of town in the middle of the night more than a decade earlier.

“It was just a great day for Baltimore,” said Ravens quarterback Vinny Testaverde. “The players felt the enthusiasm and excitement. We didn’t want to disappoint anybody in this city.”

Legendary Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas carried the game ball onto the field in a pregame ceremony.

There was at least one person there who recognized that in order for the NFL to return to Baltimore, they had to do to another city what Indianapolis had done to them.

Rick Redd stood out in front of the stadium in an old Cleveland Browns sweater and a sign that said “Art Modell: The Thief Who Stole History.” The sign referenced the Ravens’ owner whose extreme greed and malevolence forced the team’s move despite rabid fan support in Cleveland.

“I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s day,” Redd said. “I grew up going to Browns games with my dad. I live in Harrisburg now, so I felt that since I could get here, somebody should come and say something.” 

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

Rookie linebacker Ray Lewis celebrates his game-saving interception in the end zone.