Mike Flanagan's Father Delivers Acceptance Speech

On Friday evening I had the opportunity to attend the Ted Williams Hitting Hall of Fame Induction Dinner at Tropicana Field in Tampa which was held to honor hitters Cecil Fielder and Tino Martinez and to add Mike Flanagan's name to the Pitching Wall of Achievement. On hand was Bill Stetka, Director of Outreach and Community Development for the Baltimore Orioles was on-hand to speak prior to Flanagan's wife and father accepting the award. With many members of the Flanagan family on-hand it was quite a touching moment. After the award was accepted and the applause quieted down, Flanagan's father delivered a very emotional speech to the nearly 800 in attendance. I've included the speech below and please forgive the quality.

Bill Stetka intro after the jump.