Baseball’s ‘Woke Hillbilly’ Had More Songs to Write

Tim Flannery, wearing a blue shirt, sings while playing guitar.Tim Flannery’s rollicking life as an athlete and a musician was nearly cut short by a staph infection. But one of baseball’s most unlikely characters found his way back.

Night had fallen, spirits were moving and the songwriting baseball coach was rounding third base and headed for home. Twice in the autumn of 2020, doctors had advised a gravely ill Tim Flannery to say goodbye to his family. Both times, he declined to surrender.

The right arm that sent home so many San Francisco base runners during the Giants’ three World Series titles from 2010 to 2014 waved away a final coda.

The road back from the brink was as unlikely as the man…