Giants Diamond Girls: Donna Flannery

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Amy: Another edition of Diamond Girls and we have Tim Flannerys wife joining us, Donna Flannery and you have been definitely a fan favorite. I mean you never get tired of watching him wave runners in. Im guessing as his wife you sometimes get tired of Tim.

Donna: I have to say he is a little bit of an entertainer. Yeah -- on the baseball field, in the music world and even at home he can be pretty entertaining.

A: How long have you guys been together and how did you meet?

DF: We met in high school -- rival high schools in Anaheim. Gosh, dated on and off for seven years. He went to Chatham College. I went to UCLA and finally got engaged in '80 and married in '81. No. Yes -- married in '81. So, '82 he made the big club for the first time, out of spring training. So, my timing was great.

A: Yeah, you didnt have to do too many visits to the minor leagues. So youve been kind of through this roller coaster of baseball with Tim -- playing, coaching, retiring from coaching, broadcasting, going back to coaching. Youve mentioned some of the women you have been with through this career of his and whats the best advice you were given throughout those times?

DF: Going back, not having to spend any time in the minor leagues, the first go around with Tim, since I was the girlfriend. It was going back in either '93, '94 or '95 was to get yellow pages and the local newspaper to find whats in the area and whats new. We didnt have Google and the Internet and cell phones. Tim and I laughed about it the other day -- when he would be on the road, you would call the hotel. So we just made it a deal, as the young wife, worried, that he would always call me. You could leave messages but it wasnt the instant gratification that the cell phone now gives you.

A: You see the wives now coming in, and youve been there and its a lot. Its a lot to handle.

DF: Im glad there wasnt Twitter and blogging and I think some of the young players today get a little too caught up in it and they need to focus away from that and more on enjoying what theyre doing right now.

A: Do you find yourself ever in a position of adviser or giving some advice to some of the young wives coming in?

DF: Id like to think that I can. When Tim broke in, Dick Williams -- who was a very tough manager -- Tim had a rough game the day before and he came in and Dick Williams told him, Youre in the line up tomorrow but as were talking right now, Im looking for another second baseman. Its a team sport and what a great career you can have as being the guy off the bench and Tim became a very good pinch hitter. He played shortstop in high school but he taught himself how to play third base so he could be that go-to guy. I have to say I love the National League. I love the strategy behind it. I love second guessing the manager and Ill go, Well, why did he do this? and Tim will say, Well, you didnt know that so and so was on the bench and who he had in the bullpen. Tim really taught me the game when we went back to the minor leagues. He didnt really want to talk about it that much as a player. Going through it, he had the clubhouse, he had his friends, but when we went back to the minor leagues and he didnt have that clubhouse, he would come home and I was like, You mean there are plays? So, it was a really great learning curve and I have to say I love where we are at now. I have three beautiful kids that are all grown and kind of on their own. Two of them live at home but I need them to. I need them to so I can be up here with Tim and they can take care of the dog and the cat and the house. Im just in a great spot and I love San Francisco -- love San Francisco.

A: San Francisco loves the Flannery family, thats for sure and they love Lunatic Fringe, which is Tims band. And its been really nice to see more of Tim and the band in the forefront and doing so many good things for the Stow family. So, just give us a little background of what the music life is like with him and what its like for you to watch him perform.

DF: Tims music came about -- his uncle had asked him, You need to record some of those songs. And it was shortly after that his Uncle George was killed in a head-on car crash. So, Tim did start recording and very simple at first, drum track, and I have to say he was a little more pop and then he met Matt Manning from Ireland and then he went back to Kentucky and started filling his blue grass roots, and his music just really transformed into the more blue grass, California -- what does he call it? -- California country. So, its really been fun and he surrounds himself with just excellent, beautiful backup girl singers and fiddlers.

A: Its been exciting to watch. Are you excited for him for Wednesday, when he sings the anthem?

DF: I am. I almost missed it last year when he did it, getting caught in traffic and I always tend to be a little late these days but I really am looking forward to it.

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