Mike Mussina, 1993 Score #27

Tonight, with Mike Mussina (and yours truly) in attendance, the Orioles came from behind and pulled out a thrilling walkoff win for the second straight game against Oakland. Tonight's hero was Chris Davis, who blasted a solo shot to right-center field off of ambidextrous A's reliever Pat Venditte with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to break a 3-3 tie. It was his second home run of the night, his sixth in the last six games, his 15th since the All-Star Break, and his 34th of the season. Did I miss any home run factoids? Oh yeah, it was also his 87th career homer at Camden Yards, so he surpassed Cal Ripken for sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list. Gerardo Parra chipped in with a game-tying solo home run in the sixth inning, his second as an Oriole. It's also worth recognizing the effort of starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez, who hung in there for a seven-inning quality start after coughing up three runs in the first three innings. Thankfully, the Birds wrapped things up a bit sooner than they did on Friday night, when it took 13 innings before Manny Machado broke the stalemate with a two-run walkoff homer. With back-to-back feats of Orioles Magic, the resilient O's have closed to within a half game of the Angels for the second AL Wild Card slot. The Rangers, Twins, and Rays are all lurking close behind as well, so the next six weeks should be nerve-wracking.

Alan Mills, 1993 Score #440

Just before we left for Ocean City at the end of June, my wife gave me some beach reading: Dan Connolly's new book, 100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. I would recommend it to any O's fan as a quick and entertaining overview of team history. I learned a few new things as well. My favorite tidbit was the revelation that a college-aged Alan Mills had a Darryl Strawberry poster hanging in his dorm room. Of course, a decade later, Millsy posterized Straw in the most infamous melee in Baltimore baseball lore.

Manny Alexander, 1993 Score #234

1993 was a long time ago, as this card illustrates. Back then, Score was still in the baseball card business, and Manny Alexander was both a rookie and a prospect. In the proceeding 18 years, Score (as well as Donruss, Fleer, Leaf, Pacific, and Upper Deck) lost their license to make cards featuring MLB players and logos. Alexander stumbled out of the gate, fizzled out, and muddled through 593 major leagues. He played 593 major league games, the last of them coming in 2006, and finished with a batting line of .231/.282/.324.

Manny Alexander didn't stick it out for 18 years, but my car did. It was a 1993 Toyota Camry, and its previous two owners were both friends of the family. I bought it nearly five years ago, and it ran like clockwork in all seasons, but its body gave out. The antenna broke off, as did the driver's door handle. The plastic casing for the parking brake dry-rotted. The interior smelled of oil. A few months ago, another car sideswiped me on the beltway and dented the entire driver's side panel. So after more than 185,000 miles, I decided to retire that trusty old car.

On Saturday, I bought myself a new Prius. It's comfortable, functional, modern, and much more environmentally friendly. I plan to hold on to it for a while...probably not for 18 years, but who knows?

Storm Davis, 1993 Score #449

Okay, we're exceptionally late and brief tonight because football takes precedence on certain days, particularly when my Ravens are fighting for their playoff lives in the final game at Texas Stadium against a tough Cowboys team. (In honor of the game, I've posted a card of Dallas native Storm Davis.) It was an exhilarating game, won by Baltimore 33-24 thanks to three quarters of stifling defense followed by an explosive, back-and-forth final fifteen minutes. It's really exciting to watch this team go from the outhouse (5-11) to the penthouse (10-5 with one game remaining). If Charm City's other Birds can beat Jacksonville at home next Sunday, they will be in the postseason. I'm holding out hope that the O's will soon give us two teams that a source of pride.