Ex-Giant coach Flannery, renaissance man, finds broadcast niche

Ex-Giant coach Flannery, renaissance man, finds broadcast niche

Tim Flannery is one of the cooler guys you’re going to meet around the game of baseball.

Coached for the Padres, then did some broadcasting down there.

Throw in his ability to play music and his relationship with musicians including Bob Weir, Boz Skaggs and Jackie Greene, and you start to get the picture I’m painting.

[...] baseball life was wearing on him at the end of last season.

[...] he told his longtime compadre, Bochy, that he was riding off into retirement.

“I had to quit because I was leaking oil,” said Flannery, looking fit and happy, but never one to mince words.

Flannery and his wife of 33 years, Donna, have a ranch north of Santa Barbara that’s entirely off the grid — solar panels, propane, firewood.

The third-base coach moved from the dugout to the TV studio this offseason, taking a job as a part-time analyst, and it all made sense.

When he’s on the air, viewers enjoy a truly unique, insider perspective on what’s going on with the defending champs.

Analyzing one of Peavy’s starts, the former coach divulged that the fiery hurler had learned a lot from the legendary Roger Clemens.

Clemens taught Peavy that, when your arm is hurting, you put the hot stuff on the places that you don’t want the hot stuff.

Classic analysis right there, and the kind of thing you’re not going to hear from most any other analyst.

Flannery brings firsthand knowledge from the bench — oftentimes hilarious and goofy — and he’s not afraid to share it.

“This is what I want to do,” said Flannery, discussing his distinctive style.

[...] that’s exactly what he did early in the season after one game, criticizing Giants center fielder Angel Pagan for a plate appearance where Flannery thought he could’ve done better.

The next day, walking into the clubhouse, Giants batting coach Hensley Meulens approached Flannery and told him Pagan wanted to talk.

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford still sends him videos of his bunting technique because the coach taught him how to do that.

[...] after the Bryan Stow incident, in which a Giants fan was senselessly beaten after a Dodgers game in Los Angeles, the third-base coach started playing benefit concerts in Northern California, and some of his fellow strummers noticed.

Flannery hopes to use his music to benefit his Love Harder Project, a philanthropy that will benefit Stow’s medical bills, along with antibullying efforts.

“Every time Tim comes here, I always appreciate him making me a better player,” said Pagan, who shares a bond with Flannery.

Flannery is candid about how many players and friends he’s buried, or intervened with, or sent to rehab.

In typical Flannery fashion, he unloaded a whale of a tale.

[...] these guys were saying the same thing: ‘Give us Bumgarner!’ The next night, it was 1-1, and they’re yelling, ‘Give us Bumgarner!’ Then we go ahead 2-1, and I know he’s coming in. ...

All of a sudden the gate opens up and I was like, ‘Here he comes mother—.You got him now!’ ...