Monday August 15 at the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 1-4
Streak: L1
Record: 39-78
Rank: 7th
GB: 30

This was one of those frustrating games that given a couple of breaks the Orioles could have won but breaks for the Birds were hard to come by in 1988.

Early on it looked like things might be going the Birds' way this evening despite them not scoring in the first inning for the first time in the four game series in Milwaukee.  Paul Molitor lead off the bottom of the first with a triple but the Orioles managed to keep the Brewers from scoring in the inning.  With one out Molitor tried to score on a ground ball from Robin Yount to Rene Gonzales at third but Gonzales threw him out at the plate.  Orioles starter Jose Bautista struck out Greg Brock to end the inning.

The bottom of the fourth however showed that it would not be the O's night.  Jeffrey Leonard and Yount hit back-to-back singles to start the frame.  Greg Brock hit a ground ball to Bill Ripken at second that he couldn't field properly - once the dust settled Leonard had scored and Yount and Brock were safe at second and first respectively.  Bautista got Rob Deer and BJ Surhoff to fly out for the first two outs of the inning but Jim Adduci hit a double that knocked in Yount and Brock before Jim Gantner grounded out to end the inning.  3-0 Brewers.

Meanwhile Ted Higuera had been pitching an outstanding game through the first six innings, giving up just one hit (a single to Joe Orsulak in the third) while striking out six.  Since Orsulak had been thrown out attempting to steal, Higuera had only faced the minimum number of batters in the first six innings.  He ran into some issues in the seventh however.  Pete Stanicek led off with a single and Bill Ripken got some redemption for his earlier error when he hit a ground ball that Milwaukee first baseman Brock misplayed, allowing Ripken to reach and Stanicek to make it to third.  Cal Ripken followed with a single, scoring Stanicek and putting runners on first and second with no one out for Eddie Murray.  But Higuera got Murray to ground into a double play and then struck out Mickey Tettleton to end the inning.  3-1 Brewers.

The Orioles mounted another threat in the eighth.  With one out Orsulak and Gonzales hit back-to-back singles which put the tying runs on base.  But Higuera got Ken Gerhart and Stanicek to fly out to end threat.

The Brewers would pick up another run in the bottom of the eighth.  Molitor reached on a throwing error by Cal Ripken to lead off the inning and two batters later he moved to second on a fly out by Yount.  Brock was intentionally walked to set up a force but a wild pitch to Deer allowed both runners to move up.  Deer then singled to score Molitor with Milwaukee's fourth and final run.  Mark Thurmond came on in relief of Bautista to get Surhoff to ground out to end the inning.  The Orioles went quietly in the ninth against Brewers reliever Dan Plesac and Milwaukee wrapped up the 4-1 victory.

I passed the evening in an interesting manner.  I was still in Massachusetts for training and I had discovered that Ellis Burks and Kevin Romine of the Red Sox would be signing autographs at a car dealership just over the state line in Nashua, New Hampshire that evening.  I went over, stood in line for about an hour talking to other Red Sox fans and got a baseball autographed by the two players.  I still have it:

Sunday August 14 at the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: W
Score: 11-9
Streak: W2
Record: 39-77
Rank: 7th
GB: 30

This was a wild one.  The Orioles took a commanding early lead but the Brewers fought back late and came close to tying it up.

For the third day in a row the Orioles took a lead in the first inning.  An RBI double by Eddie Murray and a two run home run from Joe Orsulak gave them a three run lead after the first.  A second two run shot - this time by Murray in the third - put the Birds up 5-0.

The Brewers scored an unearned run in the bottom of the third when an error by Cal Ripken allowed Robin Yount to reach base instead of being the third out - Dale Sveum scored from third on the play.  Ripken atoned for the error with a solo home run in the fifth to make the score 6-1.  The Birds added a couple more in the sixth on an RBI single by Rene Gonzales and an RBI ground out by Bill Ripken.  A two run home run by Jim Adduci in the bottom of the inning made the score 8-3 after six.

Things started to get interesting in the eighth inning.  In the top of the inning the Orioles added two more runs on a Bill Ripken RBI double.  But in the bottom of the inning the Brewers got four consecutive one out singles from Rob Deer, BJ Surhoff, Adduci and Jim Gantner to bring in a couple runs.  The Orioles replaced Doug Sisk (who had relieved starter Dave Schmidt the previous inning) on the mound with closer Tom Neidenfuer.  Neidenfuer gave up a run scoring single to the first batter he faced (Sveum) before getting Paul Molitor and Jeffrey Leonard to each ground out to end the inning.  The Orioles still had a comfortable 10-6 lead.

They padded the lead a little in the top of the ninth.  Mickey Tettleton and Larry Sheets hit singles to start the inning and Orsulak hit a ground ball to third baseman Molitor who threw to shortstop Sveum at second to force Sheets but Sveum made a bad throw to first which allowed Tettleton to score and Orsulak to reach second.  The Birds might have been able to get more that inning but Orsulak was thrown out trying to steal third and Gonzales struck out to end the inning.  The score was 11-6 Orioles.

Neidenfuer got Robin Yount to ground out to open the bottom of the ninth but ran into issues immediately after that.  Greg Brock doubled and Deer hit a two run home run to make the score 11-8.  Surhoff singled and then stole second, putting him in position to score when Adduci singled.  Gantner followed with a double to move Adduci to third.  Gantner represented the tying run on second with only one out.  Orioles manager Frank Robinson decided that after five consecutive hits it was time to relieve his closer and brought in Mark Thurmond.  Thurmond got Sveum to pop out and Molitor to fly out to end the game.

Saturday August 13 at the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: W
Score: 5-0
Streak: W1
Record: 38-77
Rank: 7th
GB: 30

It was a somber day for the Orioles - Edward Bennett Williams, who had been the owner the team since 1980, passed away from cancer at age 68.  Williams was a high profile Washington lawyer who had represented many big name clients.  His connections to the powers-that-be were so numerous that at one point he was rumored to be Deep Throat, the source of information for Woodward & Bernstein in "All The Presidents Men" (which turned out to be Mark Felt).  Willams had been part owner of the Washington's NFL team from the 1960's to 1985 which was the source of some consternation in Baltimore.  It was feared that he would move the team to Washington, especially as he had removed "Baltimore" from the team's away jerseys.  As it turned out one of his last acts as owner was to sign a long term lease for the new ballpark that the state was building for it in in downtown Baltimore - what would become Oriole Park At Camden Yards.

Meanwhile in Milwaukee the Orioles shut out the Brewers 5-0 behind the pitching of Jeff Ballard.  Ballard threw a complete game shut out, holding the Brewers to just three hits (although he gave up seven walks!).

For the second day in a row the Orioles took a lead in the first inning - tonight Eddie Murray had an RBI double that scored Cal Ripken from first.  A sacrifice fly by Cal in the third scored his brother Bill with the second run and a Joe Orsulak three run home run in the seventh completed the scoring.

I was still up in Massachusetts for training.  I had finished the first class which had been Tuesday through Friday of the past week and had a second class that would be from Monday to Wednesday of the following week.  I spent the day bumming around Boston with my friends Chuck and Jeff (Jeff lived in the area but Chuck had come up from New Jersey for the weekend).  I don't remember completely what we did but I know that we went to the New England Aquarium and the Computer Museum.

Friday August 12 at the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 3-8
Streak: L5
Record: 37-77
Rank: 7th
GB: 31

The Orioles came out of the gate strong in this game.  Joe Orsulak led off the game with a double and Brady Anderson knocked him in with a single.  After Cal Ripken struck out Eddie Murray and Mickey Tettleton hit back-to-back RBI doubles.  The Birds were up 3-0 with only one out in the first inning.

Unfortunately that was the high point of the evening for the team.  They had opportunities to add more runs the rest of the game - they had six more hits and a walk after the first inning - but they left all seven runners on base.

The Brewers meanwhile started chipping away at the lead.  They picked up a couple runs in the bottom of the second.  Rob Deer led off with a single and then BJ Surhoff hit a ground ball to first baseman Murray that he couldn't handle.  Surhoff was safe at first on the error and Deer made it all the way to third.  Surhoff then stole second to put two runners into scoring position.  After Joey Meyer flew out Jim Gantner grounded out to first - Deer scored from third on the play and Surhoff moved up to third.  Dale Sveum drew a walk and Paul Molitor followed with a single that scored Surhoff and sent Sveum to third.  Molitor then stole second but Jeffrey Leonard flew out to end the inning.   The Brewers had scored two unearned runs on two hits, a walk, an error and two stolen bases.

The Brew Crew took the lead for good in the fourth.  With one out they loaded the bases on a walk to Meyer and singles by Gantner and Sveum.  Molitor drew a walk to force in Meyer with the tying run and a ground out by Leonard that forced Molitor at second scored Gantner to give the Brewers the lead.  Robin Yount followed with a double that scored Sveum and Leonard and knocked Orioles starter Oswaldo Peraza out of the game.  Gordon Dillard came in and got Greg Brock to fly out to end the inning.  But the Brewers now led 6-3.

Milwaukee added two more runs in the seventh on RBI singles by Deer and Meyer.

The loss was the Birds' fifth in a row.  This was their longest losing streak since the 21 game streak to open the season.

Sunday August 7 vs the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 2-7
Streak: L1
Record: 37-73
Rank: 7th
GB: 29

Today was Old Timers Day and there would be a short game between the "Equitable All Stars" and the "Orioles Old-Timers" before the Orioles took on the Brewers.  I was out at the Stadium this afternoon - I had even bought a good seat in the lower deck for the game.  The "Equitable All Stars" had a strong 1970's Oakland A's theme as they were managed by Alvin Dark and featured Bert Campanaris, Joe Rudi and future Hall Of Famer Rollie Fingers.  The 1970's Pirates and Mets were well represented as well with Dave Cash, Dock Ellis, Richie Hebner and Al Oliver from the former and Wayne Garrett, Jerry Koosman, Jerry Grote and Ron Swoboda from the latter.  Bernie Carbo and Willie Davis were also on the team.  The Orioles Old Timers consisted of Steve Barber, Paul Blair, Don Buford, Al Bumbry, Terry Crowley, Mike Cuellar, Moe Drabowsky, Andy Etchebarren, Dick Hall, Larry Haney, Elrod Hendricks, Bob Johnson, Eddie Watt and Hall Of Famer Brooks Robinson.  Gene Woodling managed the team with current Orioles manager Frank Robinson assisting as a coach.  I do not know if Drabowsky called the opponents bullpen and using an imitation of Dark's voice got a pitcher warming but it had happened before.

The game was supposed to only go three innings but it was tied 1-1 after three so they decided to play one more inning.  Rules were a little lax.  Watt relieved Cuellar on the mound in third for the Birds and then again in the fourth.  The Orioles Old-Timers ended up with a walk off victory when Hendricks connected for a three run home run off of Fingers in the bottom of the fourth.  I'm fairly certain Fingers grooved the ball for Elrod - he met Elrod at third and ran home with him.

Here's the coverage about the festivities from the next day's Evening Sun:

There was still a regular game to be played but this one wasn't as much fun for the home crowd as the Old Timer Game was.  It looked promising early - the Brewers got a run in the top of the first off a Rob Deer RBI single but the Orioles got a two run home run from Cal Ripken in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead.  But then the top of the second happened.

It was another one of "those" innings that so frequently plagued the team this season.  Greg Brock singled off of Jim Traber's glove at first to start the inning and Charlie O'Brien followed with a ground ball that third baseman Rick Schu made a bad throw on.  Brock moved to second and O'Brien was safe at first.  It looked like the Orioles would get out of it when starter Jeff Ballard got the next two batters (Dale Sveum and Jeff Leonard) to fly out but Cal Ripken misplayed Juan Castillo's ground ball which allowed Brock to score the tying run.  Robin Yount untied it with a double that brought O'Brien and Castillo in to score.  The relay throw from Bill Ripken to Terry Kennedy at the plate attempting to catch Castillo got away from Kennedy which allowed Yount to move to third on the play.  Deer then hit a ground ball to Traber at first that he couldn't get a grip on - Deer ended up with an infield single and Yount scored the fourth run of the inning.  Finally Ballard got Paul Molitor to ground into a force out to end the inning.

The Orioles pretty much were done after that.  They only got two more hits the rest of the game off Brewers pitchers Mike Birkbeck and Odell Jones.  Meanwhile the Brewers scored a couple more runs off the bat of Deer with a solo home run in the fifth and an RBI double in the seventh.

Here's the game story from the next day's Evening Sun:

Saturday August 6 vs the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: W
Score: 7-2
Streak: W1
Record: 37-72
Rank: 7th
GB: 29

The Brewers took an early lead this evening on a two RBI single from BJ Surhoff in the second inning but that was all the runs they would score.  The Orioles tied the game in the third on a two run home run from Brady Anderson, his first career home run and the first of the 209 he would hit as an Oriole*.  The Birds took the lead in the sixth on an RBI double from Jim Traber and extended the lead in the seventh on a three run home run from Eddie Murray, his 20th of the season.  They got one more run in the eighth on a Joe Orsulak RBI double.

*Of those 209 home runs, nearly a quarter of them came when he hit 50 in 1996.  That 50 was more than twice his second highest total - 24 in 1999.  

I spent this evening in Hagerstown, Maryland, home of the Orioles Single A Carolina League affiliate the Suns.  It was only the fourth minor league game I'd ever been to.  Previously I had gone to a San Jose Bees-Fresno Giants double header in 1976 when I lived in Cupertino, California and was 11 years old and I had gone to a Charlotte O's game the previous year in 1987 when I had visited one of my sisters who lived in Charlotte.  Hagerstown was taking on the Lynchburg Red Sox that evening and I had a great time at the game, enjoying the closeness to the game at very inexpensive prices.  I don't remember a lot from the game itself.  I know I spent a while talking to a reporter for a newspaper in Georgia - he wasn't writing a story, he just happened to be in town.  I do remember that I saw Don Buford, Jr - son of former Oriole Don Buford Sr and brother of future Oriole Damon Buford - steal two bases - one on a pick off and the other on a pitch out.  Don Jr. never made the majors.  The Orioles GM Roland Hemond was at the game that night to check out Gregg Olson, Baltimore's number one pick in June's amateur draft.  Olson got the save by pitching a perfect ninth so I do remember that the Suns won the game.  The Orioles would be moving their Carolina League team to Frederick and moving their Double A team to Hagerstown and the Eastern League for the 1989 season.  For me this was ideal as from my apartment in Ellicott City just west of Baltimore I could be in Frederick almost as quickly as I could get to Memorial Stadium.  I started going to a lot of minor league games over the next few years.

Friday August 5 vs the Brewers (2)

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Game 1
Outcome: W
Score: 4-1
Streak: W3
Record: 36-71
Rank: 7th
GB: 29
Game 2
Outcome: L
Score: 1-3
Streak: L1
Record: 36-72
Rank: 7th
GB: 29

As you might expect, baseball did not rate very highly to me today.  The news about my grandfather was devastating and I didn't sleep much overnight.  Unfortunately I wasn't going to be able to take any time off from work.  Today I had to travel down to the DC suburbs for some sort of orientation class for the company I had started working for in June - in addition to the orientation that I did on my first day with them.  I also was going to be leaving on Monday to go to Massachusetts for training for a week and a half - I was going to learn to be a System Administrator on Masscomp computers.  If you've never heard of Masscomp it's because they were acquired by Concurrent computers later in 1988.  Because of this I wasn't going to be able to go to Kansas for my grandfather's funeral, something I regret to this day.

The Orioles were playing a double header tonight against the Brewers.  They were making up the game that had been rained out back on April 7th, almost four months earlier.   The Brewers had Ted Higuera on the mound for the opener - last time the Birds had faced him was their 12-0 Opening Day shellacking.  The outcome was a bit better for the O's tonight.  They took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an Eddie Murray sacrifice fly.  The Brewers tied it in the top of the fifth - the Brewers loaded the bases with none out on a single and two errors.  Orioles starter Jose Bautista almost got out of it - he struck out BJ Surhoff and Dale Sveum - but Paul Molitor singled to tie the game up although the runner on second (Rob Deer) was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. 

The Orioles would go ahead for good in the sixth inning when they scored two runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Jim Traber and Ken Gerhart.  A Pete Stanicek home run in the seventh made the score 4-1 which was how it ended.  Baltimore had now won four straight which would end up being their longest winning streak of the season.

That streak ended with the night cap.  Both teams scored a run in the first inning on an RBI double (Greg Brock for the Brewers and Larry Sheets for the Birds) but the Brew Crew followed up with two more in the third on an RBI groundout by Robin Yount and an RBI single by Brock.  The O's on the other hand only got four more hits after the first.

One thing that happened tonight I didn't find out for a few weeks.  My friend Steve drove down from Delaware for the second straight night and made it out to the Stadium in time for Game Two.  He got seats in the lower deck on the first base side.  During the first inning, Eddie Murray hit a screaming liner into the stands.  Everyone in his section ducked except Steve.  He stood up and raised his hands to catch the ball, only to have it pass right through his hands.  It bounced off a nearby fan and rolled away.  The best part of this story is that the cable systems in Delaware were carrying the game so when Steve got to work on Monday, one of his co-workers gave him a hard time about him missing the ball.

April 21 at the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 1-7
Streak: L15
Record: 0-15
Rank: 7th
GB: 12.0

The Orioles never really were in this game.  Scott McGregor made his third start of the season.  After giving up a couple of walks in the first two innings he ran into problems in the bottom of the third.  After getting Jim Gantner to line out to start the inning he gave up three consecutive singles to Paul Molitor, Robin Yount and Glenn Braggs to give up a run.  Rob Deer and Glenn Brock then hit back to back doubles to bring in three more runs.  After Joey Meyer ground out to third Bill Schroeder then knocked McGregor out of the game with a two run home run.  Oswaldo Peraza struck out Dale Sveum to end the inning but the Brewers scored six runs.  They would score a seventh and final run in the bottom of the fourth when Gantner scored on a wild pitch by Peraza.  The Orioles scored their lone run in the top of the eighth when Terry Kennedy doubled and Rene Gonzalez knocked him in with a single.

April 20 at the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 6-8
Streak: L14
Record: 0-14
Rank: 7th
GB: 11.5

Another game that had promise and that tantalized a vision of the team winning.  The Brewers struck first with a three run home run by Glenn Braggs putting them up in the bottom of the second.  But the Orioles immediately came back and tied it up in the top of the third with five singles from Jeff Stone, Bill Ripken, Eddie Murray, Fred Lynn and Larry Sheets bringing in three runs.  They took the lead in the top of the fourth on a Bill Ripken sacrifice fly and increased the lead in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by Sheets.  But in the bottom of the fifth the Brew Crew came up with four runs on a solo home run by Robin Yount and singles by Greg Brock and Rob Deer, a walk to Ernie Riles, and two more singles by Jim Gantner and Dale Sveum.  An RBI single by Brock in the bottom of the sixth capped the scoring for the Brewers.  The Orioles got their sixth and final run in the top of the eighth when Dan Plesac committed a balk while pitching to Bill Ripken with Terry Kennedy on third.

With this loss, the Orioles broke the record for most losses at the beginning of the season that had been held by the 1904 Senators and the 1920 Tigers.  The new question was how much further would they take the record?

April 19 at the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 5-9
Streak: L13
Record: 0-13
Rank: 7th

GB: 10.5

For a very brief time this evening, it looked the Orioles were going to be able to avoid tying the record for longest losing streak to begin a season.  The team "exploded" for three runs in the top of the first with back to back doubles by Eddie Murray and Rick Schu bringing in the Ripkens (and Murray).  The Brewers however came back with two in the bottom of the first and then took the lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the second courtesy of Paul Molitor's first home run of the season.  Another future Hall Of Famer Cal Ripken hit his first home run of the season in the top of the fourth to bring the Orioles within a run but a three run rally by Milwaukee in the bottom of the fifth (aided by errors by Joe Orsulak and Eddie Murray) but the game out of reach.  The teams traded single runs late in the game to bring the final score to 9-5.  And with that loss the Orioles had tied the record.

At 5:30 that morning in Baltimore, WIYY (98 Rock) morning DJ Bob Rivers went on the air like he usually did.  He announced that he would remain on the air until the Orioles won.  He thought it would only be a day or two.  He was wrong.

As you might expect, the Orioles losing streak had become a national story at this point.  I found a compilation of newscasts about the streak on YouTube.  The earliest newscast in the video covers today's game so don't watch it if you don't want spoilers for the next week or so's games.  The last segment on the video features Bob Rivers getting interviewed by Harry Smith and Mark McEwen of CBS This Morning.  McEwen's younger brother Kirk appears in the clip as he was the evening DJ on 98 Rock at the time.  Kirk would later be part of the morning team on 98 Rock as part of first Kirk, Mark and Lopez and later Kirk, Mark and Speigel before leaving the Baltimore market for a few years.  He's back on 98 Rock now as the afternoon drive time DJ.

April 7 vs the Brewers - Rained Out

The Orioles game against the Brewers on April 7th was rained out and I don't believe it was ever made up CORRECTION - It was made up as part of a double-header on August 5th.  This was going to be the Orioles' first "Three Buck Night" of the season - all Upper Reserved, Lower Reserved Grandstand or Adult General Admission tickets were only $3 (normally the Upper Reserved seats were $6.50, the Lower Reserved Grandstand were $5.50 and the Adult General Admission were $4.75).  Keep in mind that at the time the most expensive seats in the ballpark were $9.50.  It was indeed a different time.

Being less than two years out of college and working for the government I wasn't making a lot of money at the time so I took advantage of "Three Buck Night" as much as possible.  I had gone to five or six of them in 1987 and I'm pretty sure I made it to every one in 1988 and 1989.  After the O's success in 1989 the ticket prices went up and "Three Buck Night" was no more.

April 6 vs the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 1-3
Streak: L2
Record: 0-2
Rank: 7th
GB: 2.0

Not a lot to say about this game.  I didn't attend it.  The Orioles got their first lead of the season in the bottom of the second when Eddie Murray scored on a groundout by Larry Sheets.  The Brewers tied it in the sixth on Dale Sveum's second home run in as many games and then when ahead on BJ Surhoff's two run double later in the inning.  Both starters (Chris Bosio for Milwaukee and Mike Morgan for the Orioles) threw complete games.

April 4 vs the Brewers - Opening Day

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 0-12
Streak: L1
Record: 0-1
Rank: 5th (Tied)
GB: 1.0

This was the first ever Opening Day I attended.  My friend Steve and his mother came with me - originally my co-worker Tony was going to attend but he backed out after discovering that the game was in the afternoon rather than the evening.  It was very festive - they had a crowd of 52,395 for the game - the largest regular season crowd ever at an Orioles game and governor William Donald Schaefer, longtime mayor of Baltimore (we always used to joke he was actually the "governor of Baltimore"), throw out the first pitch.  Everybody was excited.  Then the game started.

To be fair, it wasn't an immediate disaster.  The game was scoreless until the fourth inning before Rob Deer doubled in BJ Surhoff.  The Brewers would score a second run in the inning but the Orioles did pull off a nifty double play - nailing Greg Brock at the plate when he tried to score on a fly ball by Glenn Braggs.  The Brewers put up two more in the sixth - one of them on a steal of home by Paul Molitor - and two more in the seventh (a bizarre inning that featured two more steals by Molitor and a two RBI infield single by Braggs - actually the only hit in the inning).  The wheels completely came off in the eighth when the Brewers doubled their scoring with six more runs - two of which came on a home run by Dale Sveum, another coming on a Dave Schmidt wild pitch.  The final for the game was 12-0 Brewers.  The Orioles only managed five hits in the game off of Teddy Higuera, Mark Clear and Dan Plesac.

We sat in the left field bleachers for the game and the crowd grew increasingly rowdy as the game went on.  I remember beer being thrown and at least one fight breaking out.  But we stayed until the bitter end.  We had some interesting logistics to deal with after the game - Steve had tickets for the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland that night*.  Steve was living in Delaware at the time and had left his ticket with his housemates (Chris, Tom and Harry) who were also going to the concert.  Steve was planning on meeting up with them before the show but had not taken into consideration the delays he would have both in us getting out of the parking lot at the game (we had parked in the Eastern High School parking lot just across 33rd Street from Memorial Stadium for the game - for a game with this many people we were "sardined" in the lot - all cars were parked bumper to bumper so if the car in front of you hadn't left yet, you weren't going anywhere) and in navigating in rush hour traffic from the middle of Baltimore to my apartment in Silver Spring.  I ended up driving his mother back to her home in Olney, Maryland while Steve headed for the concert.  He met up with Chris outside the arena just a few minutes before Chris was going to give up on him (keep in mind this was in the days before cell phones so Steve had no way of getting hold of Chris while he was on his way).

*The five of us plus my co-worker Tony had spent a night outside the Capital Center a few months earlier waiting in line for Springsteen tickets.  Each person was going to be allowed to buy two tickets.  Only three of us actually got to the ticket window - two of Harry, Tom, Chris and Steve (can't remember which two) and Tony.  Somehow we ended up with only five tickets.  Four for this show on April 4th that the four of them went to and one for April 5th that Tony went to.  Tony claimed that by the time he got to the ticket window he could only buy one.  I've never quite understood how that happened but between that and his backing out of going to Opening Day I kind of stopped inviting him along on things.

Once again I saved the clippings from the Washington Post for the game from the next day:

One thing point out - this was actually the only time all season that the team was not in seventh place.  They were in a three way tie for fifth with the Red Sox and Indians who both also lost on April 4th.  They were a game behind the Blue Jays, Brewers and Tigers who were tied for first and a half game behind the Yankees who would not play their first game until the 5th.