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Baltimore Orioles: In memory of the great Mike Flanagan

By Domenic A. Vadala|
Sep 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter (26) holds his hat during the seventh inning stretch against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter (26) holds his hat during the seventh inning stretch against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

On this date five years ago in 2011, the great Mike Flanagan of the Baltimore Orioles was taken from this world. We remember him today and always.

August 24th is a date that Baltimore Orioles fans will probably not soon forget, as it’s the day that the great Mike Flanagan passed away in 2011. Few fans will soon forget the events of that night; the O’s were getting set to play a game in Minnesota, and just prior to the game reports surfaced of a body being found on Flanagan’s Baltimore County property. That body turned out to be that of Mike Flanagan himself.

That night I vowed to write a tribute in some manner to Flanagan as long as I have this “bully pulpit” at my disposal. Needless to say, it was a hard time for the entire Orioles community. Anyone who watched Orioles’ programming that night or saw replays of it won’t soon forget the sorrow shown by Mike Flanagan’s former Orioles teammates Jim Palmer and Rick Dempsey. Not to mention the rest of the MASN crew.

Flanagan was a beloved member of the Orioles during his entire career. He lived and breathed Baltimore and the Orioles from the time he broke into the majors until his untimely death. And he would be incredibly proud of where the organization has gone in the time spanning between then and now.

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    • Mike Flanagan played at the tail end of the era in which players stayed with one team their entire lives, and moved their families to that city. Despite his New England roots, Flanagan represented Baltimore and the Oriole Way as well as anyone could. He was a blue collar family guy who engrossed himself in this community and learned it’s ways quickly. And he was beloved for it.

    His kids went to school with your kids, he ate dinner in the same restaurants as you did, and he was simply put just a member of the community. Flanagan of course is also remembered for his quick wit and quirky one-liners, which is another thing that endeared him to throngs of Orioles fans. Aside from being a World Series champion and a Cy Young award winner, he’s probably best remembered as being the last Oriole pitcher to stand on the mound at Memorial Stadium. That was a fitting way at that moment for the Orioles to tie together past, present, and future.

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    Speaking for myself, Flanagan was an Oriole star and then later a broadcaster, coach, GM, and then a broadcaster again. However more importantly he was a man that had a family. It’s so easy to say that Baltimore lost an icon five years ago today, and it did. However his wife lost her husband, and their daughters their father. That’s the real tragedy in Mike Flanagan’s death, and that of anyone else.

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    At the end of the day, nothing will bring Flanagan back. However his memory should never be allowed to dim in Orioles’ circles. I’ll never forget the raw emotion of the night he passed away, nor in the subsequent days when the team returned home from their road trip. May Mike Flanagan rest in peace, and may those who knew and loved him take comfort and solace in his loving memory.

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