Ex-Giant coach Flannery, renaissance man, finds broadcast niche

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Tim Flannery is one of the cooler guys you’re going to meet around the game of baseball.

He played for years in San Diego. Coached for the Padres, then did some broadcasting down there. He always loved playing music and carved a niche for himself as a big-league renaissance man.

But it wasn’t until Bruce Bochy called him eight years ago, famously asking Flannery if he had one more ride in him, that Flannery found his true calling.

He came up to the Bay Area and became an integral part of three championship teams, coaching third base by day and counseling players by night. Throw in his ability to play music and his relationship with musicians including Bob Weir, Boz Scaggs and Jackie Greene, and you start to get the picture I’m painting. Flannery blossomed in the Bay Area, on the field and off.

But baseball life was wearing on him at the end of last season. So he told his longtime compadre, Bochy, that he was riding off into retirement. He’d had enough.

“I had to quit because I was leaking oil,” said Flannery, looking fit and happy, but never one to mince words. “I could tell there were some problems. I was unhealthy. I’m 57, and I’m running up and down that line, 170 games into it. There were just other things in my life I wanted to do.”

Flannery and his wife of 33 years, Donna, have a ranch north of Santa Barbara that’s entirely off the grid — solar panels, propane, firewood. “My wife just had a birthday and I got her a chainsaw,” Flannery quipped. It looked like he could sail off into a California dream.

Then Comcast SportsNet Bay Area called. And a new chapter of Flannery’s story unfolded.

Former San Francisco Giants' coach Tim Flannery and Greg Papa after Giants' pre-game show on Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 27, 2015. Former San Francisco Giants' coach Tim Flannery and Greg Papa after Giants' pre-game show on Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 27, 2015. Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close Ex-Giant coach Flannery, renaissance man, finds broadcast niche 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

The third-base coach moved from the dugout to the TV studio this offseason, taking a job as a part-time analyst, and it all made sense. He’s a great talker, and who knows the Giants better than their former coach? Pretty much no one. That much has been clear over his first few months on the job.

When he’s on the air, viewers enjoy a truly unique, insider perspective on what’s going on with the defending champs. That much became clear early on, when Flannery dropped some jaw-dropping knowledge about starting pitcher Jake Peavy.

Analyzing one of Peavy’s starts, the former coach divulged that the fiery hurler had learned a lot from the legendary Roger Clemens. No, this didn’t have to do with PEDs. It had to do with Icy Hot, the muscle-burning balm used by many athletes to loosen things up.

“Clemens taught Peavy that, when your arm is hurting, you put the hot stuff on the places that you don’t want the hot stuff. It takes your mind off the other pain,” Flannery divulged, referring to Peavy’s nether regions. “That’s what I told our guys when (Peavy) pitched against us.

“I’d tell the guys: ‘He’s going to be out there yelling and screaming, but he’s not mad at you. He’s got hot stuff on his n—.’”

Classic analysis right there, and the kind of thing you’re not going to hear from most any other analyst. Flannery brings firsthand knowledge from the bench — oftentimes hilarious and goofy — and he’s not afraid to share it.

“This is what I want to do,” said Flannery, discussing his distinctive style. “I’m not doing it as a vehicle to make a couple bucks.

“I understand how hard the game is. But I’m also going to cover the game. I’m going to say what needs to be said.”

And that’s exactly what he did early in the season after one game, criticizing Giants center fielder Angel Pagan for a plate appearance where Flannery thought he could’ve done better.

The next day, walking into the clubhouse, Giants batting coach Hensley Meulens approached Flannery and told him Pagan wanted to talk. The old coach figured his first conflict was about to happen.

“I’m thinking, ‘This is going to be it. This’ll be the first one,’” said Flannery. “But it had nothing to do with that. I was like his coach, still. I had to sit down for 20 minutes and talk to him about some personal issues he was having. He’s hugging me and telling me he loves me. I’m walking out with my suit and tie on, and I’m saying to myself, ‘I’m still coaching these guys.’”

That makes sense for a man who was beloved in the clubhouse and the team flights. He often played his guitar with Peavy, famously recording a version of “Pancho and Lefty” with the pitcher in a hotel stairwell last season. “Flan” might be doing television, but he remains a part of the chemistry. Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford still sends him videos of his bunting technique because the coach taught him how to do that. Old habits die hard.

“People say, ‘You’re gonna miss it,’” said Flannery. “I really don’t. I just want to go on their happy flights. I partied pretty good with those guys on the happy flights (after wins).

“I’d always go in the back ... play my music.”

That music is the yin to Flannery’s TV yang. He had always played in Southern California, but never brought that passion to San Francisco. But after the Bryan Stow incident, in which a Giants fan was senselessly beaten after a Dodgers game in Los Angeles, the third-base coach started playing benefit concerts in Northern California, and some of his fellow strummers noticed.

One was Weir of the Grateful Dead, who invited Flannery to his home studio and eventually teamed up with the baseball man to play some benefits. They’re still in touch, and Flannery has become part of the Bay Area music scene, playing with the likes of Greene and Scaggs. He never intended baseball to beget music, but he’s become a regular at local clubs, and even Sierra mountain music festivals.

“I found a home,” Flannery said of the Bay Area scene. “My kid said, ‘You understand them. And they understand you.’”

Flannery hopes to use his music to benefit his Love Harder Project, a philanthropy that will benefit Stow’s medical bills, along with antibullying efforts. He plays a folky, roots style that’s evident on his new album, and the aptly named single “Three Ring Circus,” which describes his time with the Giants.

Those magical seasons make Flannery an emeritus member of the scene at AT&T Park, and the players have not forgotten.

“Every time Tim comes here, I always appreciate him making me a better player,” said Pagan, who shares a bond with Flannery. “He’s a perfectionist. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him make a mistake.

“I love talking to him. And I love his music. ... I miss him.”

Team philosopher Jeremy Affeldt remembers what Flannery brought to the team — values that still reside in the clubhouse and on the diamond.

“He’s one of those guys that has a respect for the game. He’s eccentric. But he’s a fun guy.”

Flannery and Affeldt had some great conversations, both men not afraid to delve into the esoteric. “I miss those talks,” said Affeldt.

As The Chronicle’s interview with Flannery winds down, it’s clear that this is a man at peace with his past career and his funky future. He’s made it through the wars, and survived. That’s more than many can say. Flannery is candid about how many players and friends he’s buried, or intervened with, or sent to rehab. It’s a tough life that can get you. He got out.

I asked him about that magical day, his last game as a Major League coach, when Madison Bumgarner strode out of that Kansas City bullpen and carried the Giants to their third title in five years.

In typical Flannery fashion, he unloaded a whale of a tale. We’ll let him tell the story:

“We had these loudmouth —holes behind the dugout (in Kansas City),” Flannery recounted. “For two days, the same guys kept yelling, ‘We want Bumgarner! Give us Bumgarner!’

“Now, the Royals beat us 10-0 one night. And these guys were saying the same thing: ‘Give us Bumgarner!’ The next night, it was 1-1, and they’re yelling, ‘Give us Bumgarner!’ Then we go ahead 2-1, and I know he’s coming in. ... All of a sudden the gate opens up and I was like, ‘Here he comes mother—.You got him now!’ ... I’d had enough.”

We all know the rest of the story. MadBum made history. And Tim Flannery got the perfect send-off.

He’d had enough.

Al Saracevic is the sports editor of The San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail: asaracevic@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alsaracevic