Ryan Flaherty, the Baltimore Orioles utility infielder is currently making his second appearance in the MLB playoffs at the age of 28. Flaherty, a graduate of Deering High School in Portland, Maine and former Vanderbilt standout hopes to add another line to his impressive resume this season, and that is a World Series championship. This would be a huge accomplishment for a player from Maine, where the high school season shortened and not known for producing powerhouse baseball prospects.
A World Series appearance would not be Flaherty’s first time in a championship on the national level. Flaherty in 2004 led his team Nova Seafood to win the American Legion National Championship, which was the first team from Maine to ever accomplish this. Since 2005, Flaherty is one of five players from Maine to play in the majors, the list includes: Mark Rogers, Ryan Reid, Charlie Furbush, and Matt Kinney. Flaherty is the only one of this group to play in the playoffs.
When Flaherty was growing up he had a great teacher to show him the fundamentals of the game, his father Ed Flaherty, who is the head baseball coach at University of Southern Maine. Ed coaches one of the most respected programs in division 3 baseball and is a very disciplined and knowledgeable coach. Ryan has similar traits. Ryan may not be a 30 home run hitter but he is very sharp defensively for the Orioles and has played six total positions in the field for Baltimore.
Ryan Flaherty is the face of baseball right now for the state of Maine and is a good influence on baseball in this community where kids can see that they do have a chance at their dreams if they want to work hard. For the Orioles this season, in 102 games Flaherty batted .221 with 7 homeruns, 34 RBI’s, and 1 stolen base. He was used at the many different positions this season due to injury and need. He has a broad well-rounded set of skills that allows him to play many different positions.
Even though the Baltimore Orioles play in the same division as the Red Sox, I am sure many in Maine will be rooting for the Orioles to go as far as possible cheering on our native Ryan Flaherty. The Baltimore Orioles are looking to capture their first World Series since 1984 when the great Cal Ripken Jr. played for them. They beat out both the Red Sox and Yankees this season to take the AL East crown and hope to keep moving all the way to the World Series. The MLB fans in the state of Maine will be keep their eyes glued to the Baltimore Orioles potentially for the first time ever as a new champion will be crowned in Major League Baseball and potentially Mainer Ryan Flaherty of Portland, Maine.