04/20/24
August 25, 2011
Mike Flanagan: Baltimore Orioles lefthander, general manager, broadcaster, 1979 Cy Young award winner, 1983 World Series winner, found dead at his home. He was 59.
posted by Hugh Janus to baseball at 09:19 AM - 9 comments
Peter Gammons has been posting some remembrances on Twitter. I was wondering why he was so devastated by it, but hearing the suicide angle clarifies. How awful. That's a hell of a burden to carry around. Not that it will stop anyone from booing an athlete tomorrow.
posted by yerfatma at 10:17 AM on August 25, 2011
On Mike & Mike this morning, Tim Kurkjian called Flanagan his favorite baseball player of all time to talk to as a journalist.
The suicide reports are pretty startling. Could someone really be so despondent over a sports team's failures that he killed himself over it, or is that just a symptom of deeper problems?
posted by rcade at 11:04 AM on August 25, 2011
"From 2002-08 Flanagan shared or held the top baseball executive position in the organization." I think he felt responsible.
posted by yerfatma at 11:21 AM on August 25, 2011
OMG.
posted by yzelda4045 at 01:29 PM on August 25, 2011
I lived in Baltimore during the mid-'80s, and while I remained a staunch Red Sox fan, I still admired Baltimore. My wife (then girlfriend) loved the O's and still keeps tabs on the players from that era. She was devastated by the news. For those looking for a personal angle on Flanagan, there is a remembrance in the Manchester (NH) Union Leader.
posted by Howard_T at 03:14 PM on August 25, 2011
His death has been ruled a suicide -- a self-inflicted shotgun blast to the head -- and attributed to "financial issues."
posted by rcade at 05:03 PM on August 25, 2011
I don't think he killed himself because the Orioles suck. That would be a first. Or is Chicago littered with the corpses of 100 years of Cubs executives? I hear they use swords in Cleveland.
In the few moments I saw him on TV or heard him on the radio he seemed like a genuinely nice and funny guy. Sad end.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:36 PM on August 25, 2011
Could someone really be so despondent over a sports team's failures that he killed himself over it, or is that just a symptom of deeper problems?
Definite symptom. There was a thread earlier about insults and Joba Chamberlain and how it was worrisome.
If you kill yourself because of fan reaction you have far deeper problems.
posted by justgary at 12:40 PM on August 26, 2011
According to local news sources he may have committed suicide, despondent over his team's prolonged failure.