Gregg Olson, 1992 Studio #128

YouTube continues to be my baseball lifeline in 2020. Today's special took me back to July 11, 1990, as the Orioles hosted the Royals for an ESPN Wednesday Night Baseball telecast. It was an odd one-game series, wedged in after the All-Star Break to make up one of the games lost in the brief lockout at the beginning of the season. The broadcast team was a fresh-faced Gary Thorne, Norm Hitzges, and (ugh) Mike Lupica. Thankfully, Lupica was the third man, and didn't talk as much as you might fear. If you're familiar with Gary Thorne's work, you won't be surprised that he wryly referred to the game as a "one-night stand". Though there's an inning or so missing near the beginning, this was a surprisingly fun little midseason game between two scuffling clubs. George Brett slugged three doubles for Kansas City, one of them marking his 2,600th career hit. Bo Jackson (pre-traumatic hip injury) made an incredible sprinting catch in center field to deny Joe Orsulak, with his momentum causing him to literally run up the outfield fence in three steps. If you don't feel like watching two-and-a-quarter hours of a 30-year-old VHS transfer, skip to 31:20 for that play.

Things didn't look good for the O's early in this game, as a Randy Milligan error at first base opened the floodgates in the top of the third. In the blink of an eye, a 2-0 lead turned into a 5-2 deficit. Bob Milacki couldn't make it through the inning, as KC strung together five straight two-out hits off of Milacki and reliever Brian Holton. But the rest of the Baltimore bullpen held the line, with Ben McDonald (in his ninth career game), C*rt Sch*ll*ng, Mark Williamson, and Gregg Olson combining for six scoreless innings. Meanwhile, the Oriole bats clawed back with three runs in the home half of the fourth to tie it, but the score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the seventh. Facing Maryland native Steve Farr, the Birds played a bit of small ball, turning four singles and a Brad Komminsk sac bunt into two runs. Orsulak had the go-ahead knock, and Milligan provided the insurance run. Manager Frank Robinson probably felt secure handing the ball to Olson with a 7-5 lead, but the Otter made it interesting by loading the bases in the ninth. He did strike out the side in the midst of all of that drama, with third base umpire Don Denkinger ringing up Willie Wilson on a borderline check swing to end the game. It was the 18th save of the year for Olson, and he preserved the first career win for Schilling, who retired all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings. There would be 215 more W's for Schilling by the time he hung 'em up in 2007, but this relief appearance marked his only victory in orange and black. No matter how odious Curt may be as a person, it is noteworthy that this particular game is available to watch online.