1996 Orioles Revisited - a love letter

1996 was one of the most memorable seasons I've experienced in my 40 years of being an O's fan. Camden Yards was new, having been built just 4 years earlier in 1992. The O's led the league in attendance with 3.6M fans who created the most exciting home team environment in the majors with a sea of orange and black (I hardly remember seeing a Red Sox or Yankee jersey that season). Davey Johnson was at the helm and widely regarded as one of the best managers in the game. Angelos was largely in the background as an owner. The roster featured a true ace in Mike Mussina and several hall of fame caliber regulars including Ripken, Palmeiro, Robby Alomar and for the stretch run, Eddie Murrary.

Brady Anderson crushed 50 homers to become the O's all-time single season leader. Roberto Alomar and Mike Mussina won Gold Gloves to anchor a defense that was 3rd in the AL. Seven Orioles regulars hit 20+ home runs and the team hit 257 HRs which led the league and scored 949 runs total, which was 4th.

The mid season trade to bring Eddie Murray back to the O's was one of the best transactions I've ever seen. Baltimore traded pitcher Kent Merker, who was 3-6 with a 7.76 ERA to acquire Murray's services for the stretch run. The O's went 11 games over .500 after the trade to capture the AL Wildcard. On September 6th, against Detroit, Murray would hit his 500th career home run. If you weren't around to experience the days of the O's drawing 3M fans - check out how packed the stands are in this video for a weekday game against the lowly Tigers who went 53 - 109 (!!) that year.

The season was an absolute thrill ride with 5 of the games currently listed on the "Oriole Park Top 20 Classics" happening in 1996. This included a 12 - 11 come from behind walk off win against the A's, a 14 - 13 walk off win on grand slam by Chris Hoiles against the Mariners and a 5 run 9th inning come from behind win on another home run by Hoiles against the Blue Jays. Against the 96 O's, truly no lead was safe.

The Post Season was no different. The O's clinched the Wild Card on September 28th, the next to the last game of the season on, what else? a 10th inning home run by Roberto Alomar. The game was even crazier than normal for the 96 O's due to the fact that Alomar was in the midst of appealing a suspension for spitting in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck.

Writer John Eisenberg captured the strangeness of the O's season in his article the following day;

The O's limped into the playoffs going 6 - 7 their final 13 games and were setup to face the juggernauts of the American league that season, the 99 - 62 Cleveland Indians who finished the season 7 1/2 games better than anyone else in the AL.

The Indians were an offensive powerhouse scoring 952 runs with an obscene team OBP of .369 and a murders row of Albert Belle (48 HRs), Manny Ramirez (33 HRs) and Jim Thome (38 HRs). Their pitching staff also sported the best ERA in the AL at 4.34, which was almost a run better than the O's staff.

The O's won 3 games to 1 in a series where both teams combined averaged 11 runs, 3 HRs and nearly 2 Errors per game as the old adage of pitching & defense wins championships apparently went on vacation for the week. The deciding Game 4 was won in suitable fashion on an 11th inning go ahead home run by Roberto Alomar. With the win, the O's became the first WildCard team to advance to the LCS.

In the ALCS, the O's faced the Yankees who had finished with a 92 - 70 record and was statistically the 2nd luckiest team in the AL that season as they outperformed their Pythagorean W-L by 4 games. That luck immediately expressed itself in Game 1 of the series as the Yankees tied the game in the 8th on the infamous "Jeffrey Maier Incident." As described from Wikipedia;

"With the Yankees trailing 4?3 in the bottom of the eighth, rookie Derek Jeter hit a fly ball to deep right field off Orioles reliever Armando Ben?tez. Right fielder Tony Tarasco backed up to the wall, but twelve-year-old Yankees fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the fence and brought the ball into the stands and out of the field of play before Tarasco could attempt to catch the ball for a possible out. Tarasco immediately pointed above and protested that it was fan interference, but right field umpire Rich Garcia controversially ruled it a home run and his call was upheld by the other members of the umpiring crew. The game then went into extra-innings, where Bernie Williams ended it in the eleventh with a walk-off home run into the left field seats off Baltimore's Randy Myers."

The O's went on to win Game 2, but instead of having the momentum of a commanding 2 - 0 lead, the team played like their backs were against the wall for the rest of the series, dropping the final three games in Camden Yard to lose 4 games to 1.

The series against the Indians and Yankees were a microcosm of one of the most extraordinary seasons in the Orioles storied history. From the unbelievable high of the Indians series where the O's looked like an unstoppable force destined for a World Series championship, to the creeping despair of the Yankees series where poor pitching, lack of clutch hitting and random circumstance robbed the team of their herculean stature, the 1996 Orioles were the epitome of everything that this fan loves about the game of baseball.

1996 was one of the most memorable seasons I've experienced in my 40 years of being an O's fan. Camden Yards was new, having been built just 4 years earlier in 1992. The O's led the league in attendance with 3.6M fans who created the most exciting home team environment in the majors with a sea of orange and black (I hardly remember seeing a Red Sox or Yankee jersey that season). Davey Johnson was at the helm and widely regarded as one of the best managers in the game. Angelos was largely in the background as an owner. The roster featured a true ace in Mike Mussina and several hall of fame caliber regulars including Ripken, Palmeiro, Robby Alomar and for the stretch run, Eddie Murrary. Brady Anderson crushed 50 homers to become the O's all-time single season leader. Roberto Alomar and Mike Mussina won Gold Gloves to anchor a defense that was 3rd in the AL. Seven Orioles regulars hit 20+ home runs and the team hit 257 HRs which led the league and scored 949 runs total, which was 4th. The mid season trade to bring Eddie Murray back to the O's was one of the best transactions I've ever seen. Baltimore traded pitcher Kent Merker, who was 3-6 with a 7.76 ERA to acquire Murray's services for the stretch run. The O's went 11 games over .500 after the trade to capture the AL Wildcard. On September 6th, against Detroit, Murray would hit his 500th career home run. If you weren't around to experience the days of the O's drawing 3M fans - check out how packed the stands are in this video for a weekday game against the lowly Tigers who went 53 - 109 (!!) that year. The season was an absolute thrill ride with 5 of the games currently listed on the "Oriole Park Top 20 Classics" happening in 1996. This included a 12 - 11 come from behind walk off win against the A's, a 14 - 13 walk off win on grand slam by Chris Hoiles against the Mariners and a 5 run 9th inning come from behind win on another home run by Hoiles against the Blue Jays. Against the 96 O's, truly no lead was safe. The Post Season was no different. The O's clinched the Wild Card on September 28th, the next to the last game of the season on, what else? a 10th inning home run by Roberto Alomar. The game was even crazier than normal for the 96 O's due to the fact that Alomar was in the midst of appealing a suspension for spitting in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck. Writer John Eisenberg captured the strangeness of the O's season in his article the following day;

"They couldn't just clinch their first playoff berth in 13 years. Not these Orioles, who have averaged a crisis a day since February. They had to clinch on a home run hit by a player appealing a suspension for spitting in an umpire's face. Is that perfect or what? "A fitting ending to the season," manager Davey Johnson said. They had to clinch on a day when the spat-upon umpire charged into their clubhouse threatening to kill that player. Ho hum, just another day at the office for Team Calamity."

The O's limped into the playoffs going 6 - 7 their final 13 games and were setup to face the juggernauts of the American league that season, the 99 - 62 Cleveland Indians who finished the season 7 1/2 games better than anyone else in the AL. The Indians were an offensive powerhouse scoring 952 runs with an obscene team OBP of .369 and a murders row of Albert Belle (48 HRs), Manny Ramirez (33 HRs) and Jim Thome (38 HRs). Their pitching staff also sported the best ERA in the AL at 4.34, which was almost a run better than the O's staff. The O's won 3 games to 1 in a series where both teams combined averaged 11 runs, 3 HRs and nearly 2 Errors per game as the old adage of pitching & defense wins championships apparently went on vacation for the week. The deciding Game 4 was won in suitable fashion on an 11th inning go ahead home run by Roberto Alomar. With the win, the O's became the first WildCard team to advance to the LCS. In the ALCS, the O's faced the Yankees who had finished with a 92 - 70 record and was statistically the 2nd luckiest team in the AL that season as they outperformed their Pythagorean W-L by 4 games. That luck immediately expressed itself in Game 1 of the series as the Yankees tied the game in the 8th on the infamous "Jeffrey Maier Incident." As described from Wikipedia; "With the Yankees trailing 4?3 in the bottom of the eighth, rookie Derek Jeter hit a fly ball to deep right field off Orioles reliever Armando Ben?tez. Right fielder Tony Tarasco backed up to the wall, but twelve-year-old Yankees fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the fence and brought the ball into the stands and out of the field of play before Tarasco could attempt to catch the ball for a possible out. Tarasco immediately pointed above and protested that it was fan interference, but right field umpire Rich Garcia controversially ruled it a home run and his call was upheld by the other members of the umpiring crew. The game then went into extra-innings, where Bernie Williams ended it in the eleventh with a walk-off home run into the left field seats off Baltimore's Randy Myers." The O's went on to win Game 2, but instead of having the momentum of a commanding 2 - 0 lead, the team played like their backs were against the wall for the rest of the series, dropping the final three games in Camden Yard to lose 4 games to 1. The series against the Indians and Yankees were a microcosm of one of the most extraordinary seasons in the Orioles storied history. From the unbelievable high of the Indians series where the O's looked like an unstoppable force destined for a World Series championship, to the creeping despair of the Yankees series where poor pitching, lack of clutch hitting and random circumstance robbed the team of their herculean stature, the 1996 Orioles were the epitome of everything that this fan loves about the game of baseball.

Very Nice post. It was a fantastic season, with a terrible ending in the ALCS, that still has a bad taste in my mouth.

Dad told me that once he saw that kid reach over, he knew they would lose the series. This should have been the case for instant replay to be put in place, but MLB didn't do it until 2013.

Sent from Neverneverland using James Hetfield's voice

Very Nice post. It was a fantastic season, with a terrible ending in the ALCS, that still has a bad taste in my mouth.

I was between 13-15 years old during the 96' and 97' season. That's what I held onto until 2012. My passion never waned but rather grew stronger.

Go O's in 2016!

Nice post.

Dad told me that once he saw that kid reach over, he knew they would lose the series. This should have been the case for instant replay to be put in place, but MLB didn't do it until 2013. Sent from Neverneverland using James Hetfield's voice

I was sitting in the stands for Game 3 and the O's were winning. Mussina was gassed and so was Davey's pen. Zeile tried to play sandlot ball and fake a throw to keep the runner from moving up and ended up throwing the ball into the ground and bouncing back into the air.

Parents had season tickets, so they were at that game. Dad said he was extremely disappointed in 96. 97 was worse according to Dad, and that he actually cried when the Indians won in game 5

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I remember Cal Ripken, Jr. desperately sliding into first base on a ground ball to try to avoid being the final out of the series, and the Oriole Park crowd giving the team a standing ovation for the season that they had shortly after that, in spite of the fact that it ended in a loss.

It reminded me of when the Bullets lost Game Five of the 1979 NBA Finals to the SuperSonics at the Capital Centre, but the crowd still gave them a standing ovation for their effort in trying to defend the title that they had won the previous season.

Eddie's my all-time favorite, and I clearly remember his homecoming day that year. I guess the trade happened on the weekend, and Eddie's debut was Monday night.

I remember being at my desk, the phone ringing midday, and a friend I grew up with who loved him the same saying, "There's no way we're not in the park tonight".

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL199607220.shtml

And Eddie's 3rd time up, he cracked a HR to pull us to within 7-5, and the place went bonkers - until Delmon Young, that stood alone as the best moment at a game.

Unfortunately that night Jimmy Haynes gave us a 4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 0 SO start....c'mon man.

Parents had season tickets, so they were at that game. Dad said he was extremely disappointed in 96. 97 was worse according to Dad, and that he actually cried when the Indians won in game 5 Sent from Neverneverland using James Hetfield's voice

I was working 2 jobs and raising 4 kids, so season tickets was not even a slim consideration. Stood in line for 2+ hours and got tickets to game 3 only.

Jeez! The tickets, of course, were before I came around.

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Dad told me that once he saw that kid reach over, he knew they would lose the series. This should have been the case for instant replay to be put in place, but MLB didn't do it until 2013.

Sent from Neverneverland using James Hetfield's voice

If the umpire knew the difference between his nose and his elbow he would have

called it fan interference. Might have a different outcome. IMO.

If the umpire knew the difference between his nose and his elbow he would have

called it fan interference. Might have a different outcome. IMO.

I would think so

Sent from Neverneverland using James Hetfield's voice

If they weren't referred to as the MFY's before that Maier game I imagine it wasn't much longer afterwards.

The fact the O's had a staff ERA of 5.14 and had no starter with an ERA better than 4.81 and still made the playoffs gives me hope for this year. The O's ranked 8th in the AL even with such a horrible ERA, but the staff all had near career worst years.

If the 2016 O's staff can return to 2014 form, I think we'll have a chance to duplicate the 96 team's success.

The fact the O's had a staff ERA of 5.14 and had no starter with an ERA better than 4.81 and still made the playoffs gives me hope for this year. The O's ranked 8th in the AL even with such a horrible ERA, but the staff all had near career worst years. If the 2016 O's staff can return to 2014 form, I think we'll have a chance to duplicate the 96 team's success.