Baseball Suicide: Pitcher Mike Flanagan
A Major League Baseball champion and award-winning former Baltimore Orioles great was found dead Wednesday, August 24, 2011, apparently from suicide. Former Orioles pitcher and general manager Mike Flanagan was found dead on his northern Baltimore County property, WBAL-TV 11 Sports Director Gerry Sandusky confirmed through multiple sources close to Flanagan. He was 59. Flanagan's body was found outside his house in the 15000 block of York Road in Monkton shortly before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Sheldon Dutes reported from the scene that police had blocked the driveway to the property. Police did not immediately identify the cause of death, but sources confirmed that Flanagan took his own life "despondent over what he considered a false perception from a community he loved of his role in the team's prolonged failure," Sandusky said. The soft-spoken and well-liked left-hander grew over the years into a fixture in the Orioles organization. Fro