Mike Flanagan

Sitting in the press booth at Ripken Stadium on Wednesday night following Aberdeen's 4-2 loss to Connecticut, I was approached by the IronBirds' radio man and public relations chief, Towney Godfrey, who, according to post-game ritual, asked me which team members I'd like to interview. Still a bit fried from a chaotic week at the Ripken World Series, and feeling unsure about lobbing questions at a manager who'd just watched his team squander a very good ninth-inning opportunity to tie or possibly win the ballgame, I opted to skip a session with Aberdeen skipper Leo Gomez, and asked instead for players Matt Hobgood and Joe Velleggia.

WBAL-TV is standing behind its Wednesday-night report by sportscaster Gerry Sandusky linking the suicide of former Baltimore Orioles pitcher and executive Mike Flanagan to him being "despondent" over being perceived as having failed the team and fans during his time in the O's front office. But police investigators Thursday unequivocally attributed Flanagan's action to "financial difficulties. " That attribution, police said, is based on an interview with Flanagan's widow, Alex.

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 police. Flanagan had been upset about financial issues, police said Thursday. Flanagan's wife, Alex, who was out of town, had sent a neighbor to their house in the 15000 block of York Road in Sparks on Wednesday afternoon when she didn't hear from her husband. According to police, Alex had last spoken to an upset Flanagan around 1 a.m. and was concerned when he failed to call her the following day. The neighbor, unable to find Flanagan, called 911. Baltimore County police found Flanagan's body on trail about 250 feet behind his home around 4:30 p.m. Police confirmed Thursday that Flanagan, 59, appeared to have shot himself in the face, making identification difficult and causing official confirmation of his death to be delayed.

Don Gerding of Rodgers Forge couldn't believe it when he heard the news that former Orioles pitcher Mike Flanagan had died. "It was upsetting," he said. Gerding worked with the former Oriole pitcher the 1970s and 80s, when Flanagan did some rep work in the printing and engraving business for Dempsey & Carroll while he was still pitching at Memorial Stadium. "He was a 33rd Street phenomenon," Gerding said. 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 on his property in Sparks, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation into his death.

I t's impossible to make sense of the things we will never understand, so let's just remember Mike Flanagan for all the things he did during a very eventful life and a very impressive athletic career that played out on several stages. Flanny, as pretty much everyone called him, played college basketball alongside Julius Erving and pitched for the Orioles in the days when they still smelled of champagne. He went on to become a respected major league pitching coach and a pretty good broadcaster before rising to become the executive vice president of the team that inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1994.

August 23, 1981 : Mike Flanagan's streak of 157 straight starts ended after he tore a muscle in his forearm.

Former Orioles skipper Davey Johnson has not had any contact with the club's front office about the open managerial position and isn't actively pursuing it. But that's not to say he wouldn't listen if the team came to him. "I have not been contacted, but I will always have interest in Baltimore, and I'll always care about whatever happens to them in any way, shape or form," Johnson, a senior advisor to Washington Nationals general manager...

More than a year after his stint as an Orioles executive ended, Mike Flanagan will return to the organization as a color analyst for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Flanagan, who spent more than 30 years with the Orioles as a player, coach, front office executive and broadcaster, will work about half the 2010 schedule, sharing color duties with Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer. Gary Thorne and Jim Hunter will handle the play-by-play responsibilities. "I'm excited to be back, certainly, with MASN, and to be able to give perspective and a richer experience to the broadcast," said Flanagan, who replaces Buck Martinez, now a play-by-play man for the Toronto Blue Jays' broadcast team.

More than a year after his stint as an Orioles executive ended, Mike Flanagan will return to the organization as a color analyst for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Flanagan, who spent more than 30 years with the Orioles as a player, coach, front office executive and broadcaster, will work about half the 2010 schedule, sharing color duties with Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer. Gary Thorne and Jim Hunter will handle the play-by-play responsibilities. "I'm excited to be back certainly with MASN, and to be able to give perspective and a richer experience to the broadcast," said Flanagan, who replaces Buck Martinez, now a play-by-play guy for the Toronto Blue Jays' broadcast team.