Flannery Sets Date to Retire

Having spent the past few seasons wondering how much longer he would remain a Padre, infielder Tim Flannery has taken matters into his own hands.

Flannery has decided to retire on Sept. 29, his 32nd birthday.

Flannery said Sunday he informed Padre Manager Jack McKeon, President Dick Freeman and owner Joan Kroc of his decision when the Padres were in Philadelphia last week.

“It’s not something that happened overnight,” Flannery said. “It’s a decision I’ve been thinking about for the last year. If I wasn’t going to play for this club, I wasn’t going to play for any other club.

“I’ve always been a San Diego Padre, and I will retire a San Diego Padre.”

By retiring two days before the end of the season, Flannery will be put on the retired list and thus will not be eligible for free agency.

“More than anything, I won’t have to listen to people asking me why I don’t become a free agent,” Flannery said. “I’ll be able to tell them, ‘Because I can’t.’ ”

As a utility infielder, Flannery has had plenty of competition this season from Luis Salazar and Bip Roberts. The emergence of Roberts, who is batting .295, was a factor in Flannery’s decision.

“In the last year or so, there have been some utility players who have come into their own here,” Flannery said. “I feel I’ve been part of that, and if I played another year or two, it would be with another team.

“Bip Roberts has come into his own, played nearly every position on the field and done a tremendous job.”

Said McKeon: “I hate to see him go. He’s a fine young man and a great asset to any ballclub. He was an important guy in things that didn’t show up in the box scores--the intangibles. He was a positive influence in the clubhouse.”

Flannery has lined up a job at Channel 8 in San Diego doing features and human interest stories. He also said he would like to work with Padre minor leaguers during the spring.

He entered this season, his ninth, with a career batting average of .257. He is batting .242 in 63 games this season.

“I wrote my feelings down regarding if I want to play or if I don’t want to play,” he said. “I had about 30 reasons why I didn’t want to play. The only reason I wanted to was because of the money. And I’ve never played for the money and I’m never going to play for the money.

“I’ve been very lucky to play this game with such passion for so long. The bottom line is, I feel like I’ve sacrificed as much as I can sacrifice in life, relationships, and my relationship with my children.”

Flannery and his wife, Donna, have a 4-year-old son and a daughter who will turn 2 Friday.

“He will be missed around here,” said Garry Templeton. “I’ve enjoyed playing with him. Since I’ve been here, they have always tried to give his job away to someone else. A lot of guys would have given up, but he stuck through it.

“Now, he’s realized it’s time to move on in life. I agree with him. You come home and find out your kid is now riding bikes. You miss a lot of that in the summertime. I just hope somewhere in the future he and I can hook up again somewhere in the Padre organization.”