Tim Flannery, the third base coach who waved home runners for the San Francisco Giants in their three recent World Series championship seasons, retired from baseball Tuesday.
Flannery, 57, first served as a coach under Bruce Bochy with the San Diego in 1996, and the duo moved together to the Giants in 2007.
San Francisco won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Flannery wrote on his Facebook page, “I thought you should know that today, officially, I have stepped down as the 3rd base coach of the 3 time World Champion San Francisco Giants. Talked to (general manager) Brian Sabean, and Bruce Bochy this morning and shared some tears together.
“Without getting into this too deep, I just want you to know my family and I have been talking and praying over this for many months. The grueling grind, the schedule, the demands have taken a toll, and I feel it is the time to step off the highway and heal. This baseball life is a blessing, but collateral damage comes with it. After winning our 3rd World Title, (and I have no dreams of managing), I just didn’t know what else I could give as a 3rd base coach, especially at the level I demand myself to perform at.”
Flannery played 11 seasons as a major league infielder, all for the Padres from 1979-89. He was part of San Diego’s 1984 team that lost the World Series to the Detroit Tigers.
He posted a .255 batting average, a .335 on-base percentage, a .317 slugging percentage, nine homers and 209 RBIs in 972 career games.
“This has all been thought-out,” Flannery told the San Francisco Chronicle regarding his decision to retire, added that he dealt with double vision in one eye last season. “This is not a knee-jerk reaction. So then you ask yourself, what else are you going to do? Keep coaching third till drop over? Win a fourth world championship? A fifth? What else can I do in the next phase of my life?
“I need to stay home a little while and enjoy what we have just accomplished, or else it doesn’t mean anything.”
In addition to his baseball fame, Flannery is a musician who sings with his band, Tim Flannery and Lunatic Fringe. He also devoted considerable time and money to assist the family of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was left with brain damage after he was beaten outside Dodger Stadium on Opening Day 2011.
“I was as fulfilled helping the Stow family as much as anything in my life,” Flannery told the Chronicle.
