Nine Orioles hit at least 20 home runs in 1996.
The team won the wild card, and played in the American League Championship Series, where it lost to the eventual-champion Yankees in five games.
Twelve years later, the Orioles are finding success in a similar fashion, but with a lineup filled will much lesser-known players.
As the Orioles entered the season, the team appeared to lack a bona fide clean-up hitter, a player who could power an offense expected to be among the worst in baseball.
But instead of struggling as analysts from across the country, the Orioles are in the top 10 in the majors with 67 home runs. They?re fourth in the American League, and are tied with the Florida Marlins with five players who have each hit at least nine home runs.
Kevin Millar leads the way with 11 home runs, Melvin Mora and Nick Markakis each have 10 and Aubrey Huff and Luke Scott have each belted nine.
Markakis is the only homegrown slugger in the bunch, as Mora and Millar were spare parts from other organizations, and Scott and Huff were acquired within the last two seasons. There are no Eddie Murrays or Cal Ripkens in this lineup.
The 1996 team had 20-homer campaigns from Brady Anderson (50), Rafael Palmeiro (39), Bobby Bonilla (28), Ripken (26), Chris Hoiles (25), Roberto Alomar (22), and B.J. Surhoff (21). Mid-season acquisitions Todd Zeile (25) and Murray (22) hit about half of their homers with other teams before they arrived in Baltimore.
That lineup featured three players who played in the 1996 All-Star Game: Ripken, Anderson and Alomar.
This year?s team likely will have just one ? and probably just because Major League Baseball rules stipulate every team must be represented at the All-Star Game.
In fact, of the five players on this year?s team who have hit at least nine home runs so far, just Melvin Mora has been selected to an All-Star Game, in 2003 and 2005.
The 1996 Orioles featured players who had participated in a combined 53 All-Star Games.
So these aren?t your 1996 Orioles. But they?re probably the best accumulation of players since the team?s last winning season in 1997.
Markakis and Scott seem to have a future with the club, but the other three are more short-term fixes in a lengthy rebuilding process.
But does that mean one will emerge as a cleanup hitter? Maybe not.
Markakis, with his gap power and high average, is likely entrenched in the No. 3 spot. Scott seems to be a No. 5 or 6 hitter, and nobody else on the roster projects as a No. 4 hitter. The Orioles? best prospect, Matt Wieters, also may not be the type of hitter to fill that role, even if he has smashed 13 home runs in 56 games in Single-A Frederick.
From the ?96 team, only Ripken was drafted by, developed by and spent his entire career with the Orioles.
It?s unclear how the Orioles? lineup will look in the future, but this much is clear: The 1996 Orioles have provided a perfect blueprint.
