It was a sad night in Baltimore, as the Orioles’ organization learned of the death of longtime pitcher and former Executive of Baseball Operations Mike “Flanny” Flanagan, who was found dead on a trail on his Sparks, Maryland property.
No cause of death is confirmed at press time. Flanagan was 59.
Orioles managing partner Peter Angelos said in a statement:
It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of my friend Mike Flanagan. 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.
Flanagan pitched for the Os for 15 years, and was part of their 1983 World Series championship team. He played on one All-Star Game team, and won the American League Cy Young Award. He spent 18 years in the Majors overall, including a three year break from Baltimore when he played for the Blue Jays. He returned to the Orioles from 1991-1992 as a relief pitcher, participating in a four-pitcher no-hitter, the team’s last since then.
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis last night, Orioles’ pitcher Jeremy Guthrie led the team to a 6-1 win over the Twins. Guthrie happens to wear Flanagan’s number, 46.
Jim Joyce. Don Denkinger. How many umpires or referees can you name? I’ll bet you only know their names because of a famous bad call. Add Jerry Meals to that list.
In case you were not up at 2:30 am Wednesday watching the Pirates and Braves, here’s what happened. The game was in the bottom of the 19th, (yes, you read that right, the NINETEENTH inning) six and a half hours after the game began, with the score tied 3-3. Julio Lugo was on third. Braves’ pitcher Scott Proctor hit a ground ball that was fielded by Pedro Alvarez, who threw to Michael “The Fort” McKenry. The throw arrived in McKenry’s glove well ahead of Lugo and well in front of the plate. Umpire Jerry Meals was in a great position to make the easy call.
Except he called Lugo safe.
Needless to say, all hell broke loose at Turner Field. See for yourself.
And that’s what the Atlanta TV guys had to say.
My twitter stream exploded, though I’m betting that was nothing compared to what was being said the Pirates’ locker room. And in the morning, the hashtag #jerrymealssaysitssafe was trending.
It continued on all day and shows little sign of going away any time soon, at least not in Pittsburgh.
As for the Pirates, Manager Clint Hurdle encouraged his players to express their frustration, but public comment has been limited. Frank Coonelly’s statement says it all on behalf of the team.
Later in the day, Jerry Meals made the following statement:
Pertaining to the play that ended the game as last night, as [Scott] Proctor hit the groundball to [third baseman Pedro] Alvarez…as he fielded the ball and threw home, I got into position to make the call. [Catcher Michael] McKenry caught the ball, made a swipe tag attempt at Lugo sliding. I did not see any tag After that, I ruled him safe.
After coming into the locker room, I reviewed the incident through our videos that we have in here and after seeing a few of them, on one particular replay, I was able to see that Lugo’s pant leg moved ever so slightly when the swipe tag was attempted by McKenry. That’s telling me that I was incorrect in my decision and that he should have been ruled out and not safe.
It takes guts to admit you’re wrong. He’s never gonna be my favorite ump but he’s human. He made a mistake. He admitted it. Moving on. That’s exactly what I expect Clint Hurdle is encouraging his players to do.
After 18 consecutive losing seasons, the formerly hapless Pittsburgh Pirates headed into the All-Star break four games over .500 and exactly ONE game out of the division lead. The local TV guys were speculating last Sunday afternoon about a possible run for the division during the second half of the season, or at least the wildcard. Just getting to .500 used to be the elusive dream and (ZOMG) now we’re talking playoffs!
The statistics are staggering for this 2011 edition of the Buccos.
Last year, win #45 came on September 3. This year? July 6. They matched last year’s road win total (17) on June 1.
The last time they sent three players to the All-Star game? 1990.
Closer Joel Hanrahan gives a whole new meaning to HammerTime. He’s 26 for 26 in save opportunities this season. Only one reliever in the majors, Craig Kimbrel, has more saves and he’s only got one more than Hanrahan.
All this from an opening day payroll of $46 million. That makes the Pirates 27th out of 30 MLB teams in payroll. For comparison, the Yankees were over $201 million on opening day.
Despite a high number of injuries, resulting in a roster heavy with minor league call-ups, the team is playing better than it has in YEARS. Both starting catchers went down the same week, and the top minor-league prospect was also injured. The team went shopping and snagged the Red Sox AAA catcher, Mike McKenry, who happened to be grocery shopping in Pawtucket when he got the call. He’s a wall behind the plate, A WALL, and finally got the bat going last Friday night with his first major league home run to win the game. Someone really needs to get on making a Fort McKenry shirt. I’ll be first in line to buy one.
Speaking of shirts, I’m not afraid to buy a shirt with a player’s name and number on it anymore. The Pirates were sure to sell or trade their best players in August, usually the guy whose name was on the shirt I just bought. Eleanor is still sporting a Freddie Sanchez. This year, the Pirates look to be buyers, not sellers, as the trade deadline approaches.
Most of all, and if you’ve ever seen Bull Durham or Major League you know what I’m talking about, the players and coaches are having an absolute blast. Anyone who saw the Pirates’ dugout under John Russell’s leadership saw a team having absolutely.no.fun.at.all.thank.you.very.much. Clint Hurdle is in a whole other much happier universe. He actually remembers baseball is a GAME. For Clint, winning two in a three game series isn’t a problem, it’s a “Meatloaf series” because two out of three ain’t bad.
I’m gushing, I know, but these Pirates are totally gush-worthy. I’m wishing I could be at the ballpark every night. (It’s always been a really beautiful park, even when the team sucked.) The city is responding and sell-outs are regular happenings, rather than noteworthy events.
The national media is taking notice, too. Andrew McCutchen was interviewed during coverage of the home run derby. The big guns are mentioning Pittsburgh and saying really nice things, not making jokes. I just wish they would stop sounding so surprised all the time.
Raise the jolly roger, dammit. LET’S GO BUCS!
ClumberKim has lived in Pittsburgh over 13 years. An earlier version of this appeared on clumberkim.com. She cranked up the gush in this version.
Bud Selig, MLB Commissioner, announced Wednesday that his office will assume control of the Dodgers organization.
The Dodgers, and owner Frank McCourt, have been under scrutiny in recent years. McCourt’s very public divorce, wavering team finances, including two loans from Fox, and most recently, the beating of a Giant’s fan on opening day have all led Selig to say:
“The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future.”
It’s about time someone stopped this train wreck. It should have been done at the beginning of the divorce.
Just announced, the Dodgers organization has hired former LA police chief Bill Bratton to review safety policies and procedures at Dodgers stadium following the beating of Giants fan Brian Stow. Bratton’s security firm, Kroll, will be conducting the investigation and making recommendations based on their findings.
It’s about time the Dodgers stood up and attempted to make this better. Bratton is known for being a no-nonsense kind of guy. He served as Chief of Police in LA from 2002-2009 and crime rates in the city dropped for 6 years in a row. Let’s hope he comes in and kicks some hoodlum ass.
Also in the news today is criticism of the parking situation in the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium due to the rising cost of parking at the stadium itself. Thank you to our reader Norm for the link to that story. (No website linked for Norm.)
Kendra is getting tired of living in LA due to stories like this.
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