John Timothy Flaherty (born October 21, 1967) is an American television baseball broadcaster and a former professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
. He played for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
,
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
,
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
,
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...
, and
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
between 1992 and 2005. He is currently a broadcaster for the
YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
.
Early life
Flaherty grew up in
West Nyack, New York
West Nyack is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Blauvelt, east of Nanuet, southwest of Valley Cottage, southeast of Bardonia, and west of Central ...
and graduated in 1985 from
Saint Joseph Regional High School
Saint Joseph Regional High School (known as SJR, St. Joe's or Joe's) is a private, Catholic Church, Catholic, University-preparatory school, college preparatory school for boys, located on a campus in Montvale, New Jersey, Montvale, in Bergen ...
in
Montvale, New Jersey
Montvale is a borough in northern Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, bordering the state of New York. The borough is part of the New York City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8 ...
. He went to grammar school at St. Anthony School in
Nanuet, New York
Nanuet is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, New York, United States. The third largest hamlet in Clarkstown, it is located north of Pearl River, south of New City, east of Spring Valley, and west of West Nyack. ...
. He attended
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
, graduating in 1990 with a BA in Speech Communications and a minor in Psychology. He batted and threw right-handed. In 1987, he played
collegiate summer baseball
Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
with the
Harwich Mariners
The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League
The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...
.
Professional career (1992–2005)
Drafted by the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
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
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
for
Rich Rowland. In 1996, Flaherty had a 27-game
hitting streak
In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pl ...
. This ranks as the third-longest hitting streak of all time by a
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
, behind only
Sandy Alomar Jr.'s 30-game streak and
Benito Santiago
Benito Santiago Rivera (born March 9, 1965) is a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played for 20 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2005, most prominently as a member of the ...
's 34-game streak.
In 1996, the Tigers traded Flaherty to the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
, along with
Chris Gomez, for
Brad Ausmus
Bradley David Ausmus (; born April 14, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player, manager and current coach. He is the bench coach for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). In his 18-year MLB playing career, Ausmus ...
,
Andújar Cedeño
Andújar Cedeño Donastorg (August 21, 1969 – October 28, 2000) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) shortstop who played from 1990 to 1996. Born in La Romana, Dominican Republic, he played for the Houston Astros from 1990 to 1994, the San Diego ...
, and a minor leaguer. In 1997, the Padres traded Flaherty to the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...
for
Andy Sheets and
Brian Boehringer. He played as the Devil Rays' everyday catcher through the 2002 season. As a member of the Devil Rays, he broke up a
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...
by
Pedro Martínez
Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to .
As of 2023, M ...
in the ninth inning.
In 2003, he signed as a free agent with the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
. With the Yankees, he served as a back-up to regular
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
Jorge Posada
Jorge Rafael Posada Villeta (born August 17, 1970) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Posada recorded a .273 batting average, 275 home runs, and ...
. 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
Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...
, and was paired with Johnson for most of the pitcher's starts that season.
He rejoined the Red Sox in December 2005, but announced his retirement March 7, 2006, during
spring training
Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...
with the team.
Flaherty's career stats include a .252
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
in 1,047 games and 849
hits, including 80
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
s.
Post-playing career
Flaherty participated in the 67th annual Yankees
Old-Timers' Day
Old-Timers' Day (or Old-Timers' Game) refers to a tradition in Major League Baseball where a team devotes the early afternoon preceding a weekend game to honor retired players who played for the organization during their careers. The retired play ...
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
New York Boulders (formerly the Rockland Boulders), a member of
Frontier League
The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...
. They play their home games at
Clover Stadium in
Rockland County
Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's ...
, New York.
Broadcasting career
Following his retirement, Flaherty joined the
YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
as a
color analyst
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...
on Yankees telecasts. In addition to game commentary, Flaherty has also served the network as an analyst on the ''New York Yankees Pre-Game Show'', ''Yankees Batting Practice Today'', and the ''New York Yankees Post-Game Show''. He has also appeared on the network's youth-oriented show Yankees on Deck.
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
St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) is a private college in Sparkill, New York. The college is named after the medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas. It was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, whose headquarters are in th ...
in Sparkill, New York.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flaherty, John
1967 births
Living people
American television sports announcers
Baseball players from Rockland County, New York
Boston Red Sox players
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Detroit Tigers players
Durham Bulls players
Elmira Pioneers players
George Washington Revolutionaries baseball players
Harwich Mariners players
Lynchburg Red Sox players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball catchers
New Britain Red Sox players
New York Yankees announcers
New York Yankees players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Nanuet, New York
People from West Nyack, New York
Saint Joseph Regional High School alumni
San Diego Padres players
Tampa Bay Devil Rays players
Toledo Mud Hens players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
YES Network
20th-century American sportsmen