Orioles/UMass pitching legend Flanagan had links to Lynn, Swampscott

The Mike Flanagan story began at Lynn’s Fraser Field in 1947 when his father, Ed Flanagan, came here to pitch for the Lynn Red Sox, a farm club in the Boston Red Sox system.Mike Flanagan’s mother, the former Lorraine Lane, is a Lynn English High School graduate (born in Swampscott and raised in Lynn) and after a four-year romance (writing to each other when Ed was in the Navy) they got married at Lynn’s St. Mary’s Church on Dec. 7, 1947.The loving couple moved to Manchester, NH, and had two sons and two daughters. They named their second son Michael Kendall Flanagan.Mike’s dad had his dreams of pitching in the Major Leagues go unfulfilled, but Mike took up the chase, going on to big-league glory with the Baltimore Orioles. The crafty left-hander hurled his way to the Cy Young Award in 1979 with a 23-9 record, and later captured a World Series ring in 1983.However, the once heart-warming story ended in horror and tragedy last Wednesday in Maryland when the immensely popular pitcher, O’s front office executive and TV broadcaster was found dead near his home. He was 59.His death was ruled a suicide.Under the coaching of his father and grandfather, also a minor-league pitcher, young Mike’s star began to shine in the Manchester Little League when he struck out 18 batters in a six-inning game, the most possible. He excelled in high school, Babe Ruth and Legion ball in Manchester before going off to pitch for UMass in the early 1970s. There, his catcher was Bill Ryan, who later became a coach and sports director at St. Mary’s High in Lynn.At UMass, the left-handed hurler set pitching records that still stand today (his lifetime 1.19 earned-run average, for example), and he also played UMass basketball.His hoop teammate was Julius Irving, the one and only Doctor J.Always quick with a quip, Flanagan reportedly said: “In basketball practice, after Julius Erving blocked one of my shots and sent it sailing into the backcourt, I then decided it was a good time to work on my pitching.”Flanagan concentrated on baseball and was soon drafted by the Orioles. He signed for a financial bonus in addition to the promise from Baltimore that any remainder of his college education would be paid by the Orioles. He carved out an outstanding 18-year Major League career with a 167-143 mound record and a 3.90 earned-run average.In 1981, Mike and wife Kathy became parents of the fourth test tube baby ever born in the US.Mike’s Lynn grandparents, the Lanes, operated Mary’s Restaurant at the corner of Breed and Lewis streets back in the 1960s and 1970s.