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Tim Flannery comes close to apologizing to San Diego fans for his Twitter rant

My notes from Darren Smith's interview.

By jbox
Tom Hauck/Getty Images

Tim Flannery on his emotional twitter rant & why it wasn’t directed to all Padres fans | Darren Smith Show | Mighty1090AM

  • Tim Flannery says he innocently tweeted a picture of himself in a Giants uniform saying he was proud to be a part of the Giants organization and their history. Then a half hour later he was bombarded with ugly messages from bullies "telling me I should have done it in San Diego. I suck. I hope your family dies. I'm glad your dad passed away here." That's what sent Flan into his Twitter rant.
  • "I'm not apologizing and I'm not backpedaling. What I'm going to do is explain my point of view. When I responded to guys I didn't know how Twitter works, that's why I'm just going to stick with what I know."
  • Flan explains that if you want a better product on the field you have to demand it. If you don't win in San Francisco you get run out of town, from the Owners, GMs, Managers on down to the players. The goal is not to have fun or be the hometown team. You have to win in San Francisco.
  • San Diego fans started hitting Flannery with comments about how we should have won those championships in San Diego and that he's a traitor.
  • He decided to explain one more time.
    "I can't help you guys, I've retired. I asked to get an interview and they said there was no interest with the Padres."
    He told fans
    "I'm not the problem, don't yell at me. Go demand it from your ownership because they've continued to go in a different direction and the fanbase allowed it to happen. That's not a knock on the fans, that's the business of the game."
  • Flannery says that he and Bochy are the history of the San Diego Padres.
  • Darren says that Flan casted too wide of a net with his comments and that the fans that do love Flannery thought he was talking about them. Flan responded, "I don't believe that. I don't believe that."
  • Flan says that he and Bochy were run out of San Diego after they won a division. "I'm retired and have nothing to do with the San Diego Padres. I have nothing to do with the San Francisco Giants."
  • He wants fans to talk to the people that can change things and that's the [Padres] Front Office.
  • "I'm done apologizing when I come to San Francisco for winning three World Championships because it almost cost me my life, my marriage and my family getting done. That's why I retired. I didn't retire because I had money, I retired because I was going to die."
  • He apologizes for his ignorance for not knowing Twitter.
  • "The real fans of the San Diego Padres know I gave them everything I had for over 20 years."
  • "I never said I hate anything. I said the fanbase needs to hold the front office accountable if they want a change."
  • "San Diego fans were great to us, but that was a whole different time Darren. That was a different time and a different team."
  • Flan read that five starting positions on the Padres were going to be filled with Rule 5 guys and he's not okay with that.
  • "I'm not bitter, I'm emotional, alright? I'm not mad, I don't care. I'm out of it."
  • "My mistake was responding to the 1% of trolls, bullies and haters."
  • Flannery says he was not drinking last night. His bosses at MLB called him about his rant.
  • "I ask forgiveness from people that thought this was a personal attack. It was not a personal attack. It was to the bullies. If the bullies come up to me and say that stuff, believe me, they're going to get big ol' bite marks on the neck."
  • Darren reveals that Flannery was concerned about how he'd be viewed by San Diego fans when he left to go to the Giants. Flan concedes
    "It's true, but we all got over that. To me it's like a divorce, a divorce when you still really love and respect the other partner and when you move on and look back, and I look back with really great feelings until you start hearing these things. It's ignorance because fans don't understand who you are and what you've done for the San Diego Padres."
  • Flan says he's going to deal with bullies better by blocking them all.
  • Darren asks Flan to talk to the fans of San Diego.
    "Look I love them. It's the history. It's the history that we had together. Don't judge me on my worst day, judge me on my body of work. I'll do the same for San Diego fans, but I'm not there anymore, there's nothing I can do. It's a beautiful legacy and a beautiful history. I have to always answer "What about the San Diego Padres? What about the San Diego Padres?" I want them to do better as well so I don't have to keep trying to cover up for it."

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