Baltimore Orioles top 10 all-time leaders in career strikeouts
By Ben Palmer
4. Mike Flanagan – 1,297 career strikeouts
Mike Flanagan spent a lot of time with the Baltimore Orioles. He played for them from 1975 to 1987, and then after a brief stint with the Toronto Blue Jays, he came back and finished out his career with the Orioles in 1991 and 1992.
Not only that, but after he retired, he was pitching coach for the team twice, and then was executive vice president of baseball operations from 2006 to 2008. He broadcasted for the Orioles a handful of times as well, and was one of the team’s broadcasters until 2011 when he tragically committed suicide.
During his career with the Orioles, Flanagan was excellent, with a four-pitch mix that included a slow curveball, a heavy sinker, a changeup, and naturally a fastball. He was an All-Star in 1978, won a World Series with the Orioles in 1983, and won a Cy Young in 1979 (a season in which he also lead the MLB in wins).
In his Cy Young season in 1979, Flanagan went 23-9 with a 3.08 ERA and a 6.44 K/9 over 265.2 innings pitched. In 1991, working as a reliever, he shared a no-hitter with Bob Milacki, Mark Williamson, and Gregg Olson, currently the most-recent no hitter the Orioles have thrown.