Tim Flannery

Timothy Earl Flannery

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
• School Chapman College
• High School Anaheim High School
• Debut September 3, 1979
• Final Game September 29, 1989
• Born September 29, 1957 in Tulsa, OK USA

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Biographical Information

Tim Flannery is the nephew of former Major League Baseball player Hal Smith. He also spent 11 seasons in the majors himself, playing from 1979 to 1989 with the San Diego Padres.

Before being drafted in the 6th round of the 1978 amateur draft by the Padres, Flannery attended Chapman College. Standing at 5'11" tall and weighing 175 pounds, Flannery batted left handed but threw right handed.

He spent less than two seasons in the minors before making his big league debut. During his time in the minors, he hit .350 in 84 games in 1978 and .345 in 125 games in 1979. He made his big league debut on September 3, 1979 at the age of 21, but his minor league success did not carry over to the Majors. He hit .154 in 65 big league at-bats, with his only extra base hit of the season being a triple. He was the eighth youngest player in the Majors in 1979.

He spent 46 games in the minors in 1980, hitting .346. He hit only .240 in the Majors that year, though. By 1981, he was turning into a Major League bust. He only appeared in 37 games that year, and he batted .254.

Not a power hitter, Flannery was in his fifth Major League season when he hit his first Major League home run. It was a solo home run off of Chuck Rainey. He was used as a bench player for the majority of his career. Overall, he appeared in 972 games in his career, and batted .255 (631 for 2473). He hit only nine home runs, stole 22 bases and drove in 209 runs. He did have a good eye at the plate, walking 277 times and striking out 293. In the field, he had a .977 fielding percentage. He appeared in four postseason games in his career, all in 1984, collecting two hits in three at-bats. He played his final big league game on his birthday - September 29, 1989.

Statistically, he is most related to Larry Milbourne. He spent nine seasons with Eric Show - longer than any other teammate.

After his big league career ended, he became a Padres coach from 1996 to 2002 and a minor league manager in the Padres organization. He was a broadcaster for the team in 2005, and from 2007 to 2014 coached for the San Francisco Giants. In November 2014 he announced his retirement from baseball [1].

After being ejected from a game during his lone season as Spokane Indians manager, he put on the team's mascot Otto's costume and entertained the crowd on the field. He later recalled he danced to the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" during the seventh inning stretch. (But he also said it was 1992, so his memories may not be entirely accurate.)

He is also an accomplished musician/songwriter, releasing multiple CDs. He fronts a band called "The Lunatic Fringe" which toured when Tim was available, and whose profits were pumped into charitable causes. One of the reasons for his retirement from coaching was that he wanted to devote more time to his musical interests.

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1993	Spokane Indians	Northwest League	35-41	6th (t)	San Diego Padres
1994	Rancho Cucamonga Quakes	California League	77-59	3rd	San Diego Padres	League Champs
1995	Las Vegas Stars	Pacific Coast League	61-83	9th	San Diego Padres

Further Reading

• Associated Press: "Tim Flannery pursues new life away from the baseball diamond", USA Today, February 10, 2015. [2]
• Chris Haft: "Touring Flannery thankful for experience with Giants: Former third-base coach to play four shows with band in Northern California", mlb.com, January 19, 2015. [3]

Related Sites

• Tim Flannery at the SABR Bio Project
• An Interview with Tim Flannery