John Flaherty
| John Flaherty | ||
|---|---|---|
Runs batted in 395 | | |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | ||
| Teams | ||
John Timothy Flaherty (born October 21, 1967) is an American television baseball broadcaster and a former professional
Early life
Flaherty grew up in West Nyack, New York and graduated in 1985 from Saint Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, New Jersey. He went to grammar school at St. Anthony School in Nanuet, New York. He attended George Washington University, graduating in 1990[1] with a BA in Speech Communications and a minor in Psychology. He batted and threw right-handed. In 1987, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[2]
Professional career (1992–2005)
Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1988, he moved through the farm system and broke through with the Sox in 1992. He also played for the Red Sox in 1993, and in 1994 he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Rich Rowland. In 1996, Flaherty had a 27-game hitting streak.[3] This ranks as the third-longest hitting streak of all time by a catcher, behind only Sandy Alomar Jr.'s 30-game streak and Benito Santiago's 34-game streak.
In 1996, the Tigers traded Flaherty to the
In 2003, he signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.[5] With the Yankees, he served as a back-up to regular catcher Jorge Posada. He is best known for a 2004 pinch-hit game-winning single that ended a 13 inning game against the Boston Red Sox. In the 2005 season, Flaherty developed a good working relationship with pitcher Randy Johnson, and was paired with Johnson for most of the pitcher's starts that season.[6]
He rejoined the Red Sox in December 2005, but announced his retirement March 7, 2006, during spring training with the team.[7]
Flaherty's career stats include a .252 batting average in 1,047 games and 849 hits, including 80 home runs.
Post-playing career
Flaherty participated in the 67th annual Yankees Old-Timers' Day on June 23, 2013, the first time he played on Old-Timers' Day. He also appeared in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
New York Boulders
In 2011, Flaherty founded the
Broadcasting career
Following his retirement, Flaherty joined the
Personal life
John Flaherty is well known by his nickname "Flash."
On May 15, 2009, Flaherty was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York.[8]
References
- ^ "John Flaherty (1997) - Hall of Fame".
- ^ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ "BASEBALL;Marlins End Flaherty's Hitting Streak at 27". The New York Times. July 29, 1996.
- ^ "Lost in the Ninth".
- ^ "MyYESNetwork.com > Thread > This Week in Yankees History december 13th-19th". www.myyesnetwork.com.
- ^ "Patrick Talks with John Flaherty". October 12, 2010.
- ^ "Boston Red Sox official site". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.
- ^ "Lower Hudson Valley News".
External links
- Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet