Michael Kendall Flanagan (December 16, 1951 – August 24, 2011)[1] was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher, front office executive, and color commentator.

He spent 18 years as a player in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles (1975–1987, 1991–1992) and the Toronto Blue Jays (1987–1990).

[5][6] Flanagan graduated from Manchester (NH) Memorial High School, where he was on the baseball and basketball teams that each won consecutive New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA) Class L titles in 1970 and 1971.

[7] His pitching was limited in 1971 because of a left elbow injury he had sustained while playing American Legion Baseball for the local Henry J. Sweeney Post the previous summer.

[8] This factored into him not signing a contract after he was picked by the Houston Astros in the 15th round (346th overall) of the 1971 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.

[18][19] He made his debut pitching 1+2⁄3 innings in relief of starter Wayne Garland in a 5–4 victory in the opener of a twi-night doubleheader at Memorial Stadium on September 5.

[4][20] His first start and decision was a 3–2 loss at Shea Stadium in the nightcap of another twin bill 23 days later on September 28 which was the final game of the regular season.

He was on the verge of a shutout until the bottom of the ninth when the first three batters he faced reached base and Dyar Miller allowed all of them to score on a single and an error.

After the next two batters singled, bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate, manager Earl Weaver replaced Flanagan with Don Stanhouse, who struck out the next hitter to preserve the victory.

[11][31] After the game, pitching coach Ray Miller suggested that Flanagan's fastball was underrated, claiming that only five pitchers had thrown a harder one all year.

[4] He led the AL with 23 wins and five shutouts (tying for the latter with Ryan and Leonard), also ranking among AL leaders with a 3.08 earned run average (fourth behind Ron Guidry's 2.78, John's 2.96, and Dennis Eckersley's 2.99), 190 strikeouts (third behind Ryan's 223 and Guidry's 201), and 265+2⁄3 innings pitched (third behind teammate Dennis Martínez's 292+1⁄3 and John's 276+1⁄3).

[34][35] The starter for Game 2, Flanagan held the Angels to three runs through seven innings before getting pulled in the top of the eighth after the first three runners reached (though Rod Carew did so on an error).

When Rick Dempsey doubled with two outs in the seventh inning, Weaver opted to pinch hit for Flanagan with Pat Kelly, in hopes of getting a run.

[43] However, he suffered a major injury in the first inning of the opener of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox on May 17, twisting his left knee.

[18] On January 24, 1985, Flanagan suffered another major injury, tearing his left Achilles tendon during a charity basketball game.

[11] He was traded from the Orioles to the Toronto Blue Jays for Oswaldo Peraza on August 31, 1987, in a transaction that was completed four days later on September 4 when José Mesa was sent to Baltimore.

[54] His most memorable performance with the Blue Jays took place at Tiger Stadium on October 3, 1987, the penultimate game of the regular season.

[55][56] With Toronto in a first-place tie with Detroit and having lost its last five contests,[57] Flanagan outlasted Jack Morris by pitching 11 innings before departing with the match deadlocked at 2–2.

His combined stats between Baltimore and Toronto that season were a 6–8 record, a 4.06 ERA, 93 strikeouts, 51 walks, and 148 hits allowed in 144 innings over 23 games (all starts).

[4] After being invited to Oriole training camp on a minor league contract in 1991, Flanagan made the team as a relief pitcher.

[11][65] On September 27, manager Johnny Oates brought him in to record the last two outs by an Oriole pitcher in the final baseball game played at Memorial Stadium, a 7–1 loss to the Tigers.

In his baseball column in the Sunday issues of The Boston Globe during the late-1970s, Peter Gammons ran a regular feature called the "Mike Flanagan Nickname of the Week".

His career as a color commentator on Orioles telecasts began when he made broadcasts for Home Team Sports (HTS) in 1994.

[4] After that, he was appointed by HTS as the color commentator alongside Mel Proctor in early January 1996, following the controversial dismissal of John Lowenstein, a former Oriole teammate of Flanagan's.

After the 2002 season, Buck Martinez was hired as a broadcaster, as Flanagan and Jim Beattie were named co-vice presidents of baseball operations for the Orioles in December 2002.

[70][77] When Beattie was dismissed following the 2005 season, Flanagan became the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, a position equal to the status of general manager.

[11][4] In 2010, Flanagan went back behind the microphone, joining the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) as the Orioles' secondary analyst after Martinez became the Blue Jays' lead broadcaster on Rogers Sportsnet.

Both Flanagan and Palmer provided color commentary along with rotating play-by-play announcers Gary Thorne and Jim Hunter through the 2011 season.

[4][78] Flanagan's pitch selection included a slow curve, a heavy sinker, a fastball, and the changeup McGregor taught him in 1979.

[4] The Orioles wore a black patch bearing the text "Flanny" on the right sleeves of their jerseys for the rest of the 2011 season in tribute.