Mike Flanagan Found Dead

IE

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Multiple sources tell WBAL's Gerry Sandusky that former Baltimore Orioles pitcher and general manager Mike Flanagan was found dead on his Baltimore County property Wednesday.

The Orioles confirmed the death during Wednesday night's game in Minnesota.

Baltimore County police and fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost tells WBAL police officers discovered a man's body alongside a trail in Monkton late Wednesday afternoon. Armacost did not identify the man.

The officers found a man's body outside a house on Flanagan's property in the 15000 block of York Road in Monkton shortly before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Police were called to the area for "a person with a suspicious condition." When officers arrived at the scene, they found the man's body along a trail on the property.

Police declined to speak about the manner of death until the investigation is complete.

Flanagan made a mark on Baltimore baseball; he had a rich history with the Orioles.

Flanagan was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 7th round of the 1973 draft. He made his major league debut with the Orioles on September 27, 1975. He became one of the most dependable pitchers for the next nine years, Flanagan went to the All-Star Game in 1978 and won the Cy Young Award in 1979. That season was his best in baseball: with a record of 23-9.

On August 31, 1987, Flanagan was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. He had two solid seasons for the Blue Jays as a starter , but is best remembered as the pitcher who surrendered an upper-deck shot in the Skydome by Jose Canseco in the 1989 before being converted to a reliever in the 1990 season.

In 1987, Flanagan was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Returning as a free agent to Baltimore for the 1991 season, he pitched effectively that season as a reliever. He served stints as pitching coach and broadcaster for the Orioles.
 

MadJack

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Wow! Rest in peace, Mike. One of my favorite Orioles pitchers of all time.

:sadwave:
 

Terryray

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Kansas City area for who knows how long....
WNST is reporting it as a suicide

mike_flanagan_found_dead_orioles_broadcaster_former_pitcher.jpg



how many of these fellows do you remember?

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VqkgU5DMk7w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

IE

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Police did not immediately identify the cause of death, but sources confirmed that Flanagan took his own life "despondent over what he considered a false perception from a community he loved of his role in the team's prolonged failure," Sandusky said.

The soft-spoken and well-liked left-hander grew over the years into a fixture in the Orioles organization. From 2002-08 Flanagan shared or held the top baseball executive position in the organization. During that time Flanagan, according to those closest to him, struggled with not being able to the job the way he wanted to do it, Sandusky said.

A relative confirmed that Flanagan has wrestled for some time now with the perception of fans and colleagues alike of his role in the team's failures.
 

MadJack

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WNST is reporting it as a suicide

mike_flanagan_found_dead_orioles_broadcaster_former_pitcher.jpg



how many of these fellows do you remember?

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VqkgU5DMk7w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That was great for me to watch. Thanks for posting it :toast:
 

yyz

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Very ironic that he was mentioned in that thread about Gary Austin a couple days ago, in that Sports Illustrated article.

Meanwhile, at his desk near the front door, Austin, impervious to the noise around him, intently studies the day's starting pitchers. At precisely 8 a.m. his private line rings once. He picks it up.

"Yeah," he says. "Run 'em."

He listens.

"I'll give you 30 on Flanagan over Worth-am." he says. "I'll give you 50 on Perry. I'll give you a dime over on the Cleveland game...."

In layman's language, Austin is betting $3,000 on the Orioles with Mike Flanagan pitching to beat the White Sox with Rich Wortham, and $5,000 on the Padres with Gaylord Perry on the mound. Any changes in the starting pitchers will cancel the bets. Austin also is wagering $1,000 that the number of runs scored in the Oakland game at Cleveland will be more than 8?. Why? Because in his morning calls to the weather bureaus in each city where a major league game is scheduled, Austin has learned from the Cleveland weatherman that the wind is blowing out strongly at Municipal Stadium.
 

gardenweasel

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pretty shocking stuff...particularly if it was a suicide......if he took his own life because he suspected folks blamed him for the oriole collapse,it would make it even more tragic......earl weaver/sparky anderson and casey stengel together couldn`t field a winner with angelos at the top....


he was doing play by play on and off and was a damned funny guy....had a great wit.......palmer and flanangan were the ONLY reasons i would ever bother watching the orioles once in a while...

was a big fan of mike and scott mcgregor back in the day....

had a beautiful family,was a celebrity in baltimore....well-to-do......he had it all...just shows that nobody really knows what inner demons possess folks....

very,very sad.......
 

MadJack

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By Justin Fenton and Dan Connolly, The Baltimore Sun

11:19 a.m. EDT, August 25, 2011
Former Orioles pitcher Mike Flanagan, a Cy Young Award winner who became a television announcer and top executive with the club, died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday afternoon, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation into his death.

A Baltimore County police spokeswoman said that police received a 911 call at 4:26 p.m. reporting a death in the 15000 block of York Road in Sparks, at a property owned by Flanagan. Officers found a man's body on a trail leading to a barn, according to spokeswoman Elise Armacost. Police have not confirmed the identity of the body and said Thursday morning that the investigation is continuing.

Sources said Flanagan appeared to have shot himself in the face, making identification difficult and causing official confirmation of his death to be delayed. Police said in a news release that they are waiting for a ruling from the medical examiner on the circumstances surrounding the death.

Word of Flanagan's death spread quickly in baseball circles.


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"It's just shock right now," said former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey. "I know everybody that played with him loved him to death. He was the backbone of that pitching staff."

Orioles owner Peter Angelos said in a statement, "It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of my friend Mike Flanagan earlier this evening. In over a quarter century with the organization, Flanny became an integral part of the Orioles family, for his accomplishments both on and off the field. His loss will be felt deeply and profoundly by all of us with the ballclub and by Orioles fans everywhere who admired him. On behalf of the club, I extend my condolences to his wife, Alex; and daughters Kerry, Kathryn and Kendall."

At Flanagan's home Wednesday night, a light was on inside the home and a police car blocked the driveway, letting two vehicles enter the property.

Property records show Flanagan, a 59-year-old New Hampshire native, and his wife, Alex, purchased the 10.5-acre property in 1997 for $525,000.

Flanagan, who was in his second year as a color analyst for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, spent more than 30 years with the Orioles as a player, coach, front office executive and broadcaster.

Selected by the Orioles in the 1973 amateur draft, Flanagan went on to pitch 18 major league seasons, including parts of 15 with the Orioles. He was a key member of the 1983 world champions, going 12-4 with a 3.30 ERA in the regular season and winning Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against theChicago White Sox.

The left-hander won 141 games in his Orioles career, including an American League-leading 23 in 1979, when the Orioles lost the World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games.

Flanagan won the American League Cy Young Award that year as the league's top pitcher and finished sixth in Most Valuable Player voting. His lone All-Star season was in 1978, when he won 19 games in 40 starts, tied for the most in the league.

The Orioles traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1987, for pitchers Oswaldo Peraza and Jose Mesa. Flanagan was the last Orioles pitcher to pitch at Memorial Stadium, entering the game against the Detroit Tigers on Oct. 6, 1991, with one out in the ninth inning. He struck out Dave Bergman and Travis Fryman. He returned to the Orioles in 1991 as a 39-year-old free agent, spending the last two seasons of his playing career pitching in relief.

After being named to the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1994, Flanagan served as the team's pitching coach twice, in 1995 and 1998.

He spent 1996-1997 and 1999-2002 broadcasting Orioles games before becoming the club's executive vice president after the 2005 season, a role he held until his contract expired at the end of 2008.

Baltimore Sun reporter Jessica Anderson contributed to this article.
 

ripken8

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i was just in baltimore a few weeks ago watching my O's. very sad news. one of the great ones...
RIP MIKE
 

joz

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My friend was just hanging out with him in a bar in new jersey a few weeks ago :scared :scared He said he couldn't be a nicer guy and let him try on his world series ring
 

BuckwheatJWN

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Not really, could have invested in real estate or had bad financial advise the past couple years. No matter what the cause it's sad. For some the pain of living is worst than the pain of dying.
 
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