Mike Flanagan: Orioles' Icon Found Dead Near Maryland Home

The Baltimore Orioles organization received some devastating news on Wednesday when Baltimore’s WBAL 11 reported that Mike Flanagan, former pitcher, broadcaster and front office executive was found dead at the age of 59.

The details are slow to emerge, but the report states that he was found on a trail outside of his house around 4:30 EST on Wednesday. Police were called to the area for "a person with a suspicious condition." When officers arrived at the scene, they found his body along a path on the property.

It’s a crushing blow to the entire Baltimore organization. Flanagan had been working for the team in one aspect or another for the majority of the past 38 years.

Flanagan won 167 games in his 18-year Major League career. He captured the Cy Young Award in 1979, winning 23 games and helping the Orioles win the American League pennant.

He went a stellar 12-4 for the 1983 World Series Champion Orioles and won a game in the American League Championship Series against the White Sox. He won a total of seven postseason games in his career and was elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1994—his first year of eligibility. 

Overall, he pitched in 526 games in 18 seasons, going 167-143 with a 3.90 ERA. Aside from a three-year stint with the Toronto Blue Jays, Flanagan spent the rest of his career in Baltimore.

He was drafted by the O’s in 1973 out of the University of Massachusetts and debuted in 1975. Flanagan quickly figured out how to pitch at the major league level and was an AL All-Star in 1978 when he notched 19 victories.

He also recorded the Orioles' last out at Memorial Stadium in 1991 before the team moved to Camden Yards.

His time with the organization didn’t end once he retired from the game in 1992. Flanagan was named Vice President for Baseball Operations in December of 2002. He was promoted to Executive Vice President of Baseball in 2005.

His tenure in the front office was sandwiched between two stints in the broadcasting booth and a year as the pitching coach. He was the lead color T.V broadcaster for the O’s in 1996 and 1997 and was the pitching coach of the team in 1995.

In 2010, he signed with Mid-Atlantic Sports Network to work as a color analyst on Orioles telecasts.

It’s a tragic and unexpected day in the Orioles organization. The loyalty, trust and desire he displayed for the Orioles should be celebrated by the organization in some form.

He deserves it.  

They don’t make ‘em like Flanagan anymore.