Baltimore Orioles Ryan Flaherty speaks on his newly attained celebrity status- MLB News
After recently making debut in the Major League for the Baltimore Orioles and giving some good performances, Ryan Flaherty, who resides in Portland, Maine, has attained a bit of a celebrity status.
He has been playing in the Minor League since 2008 and had performed well. His big chance came in 2012 after he was selected by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft during the 2011 Winter Meetings. He made his debut in the big leagues in early part of April and
repaid the confidence shown in him by the Baltimore ball club in little time.
He recently received a letter from Sen. Olympia Snowe regarding the good work he and his team had done during the 2012 season and congratulated him and the team. Ryan was pleased by the gesture from the Senator. He mentioned this on his twitter account and
was inquired about it in his recent mlb.com interview.
‘’I got a letter after the season from our Senator, Olympia Snowe, [who had served 17 years as Maine's Senator], just congratulating the Orioles and myself on a good last season. It was a very nice gesture from her,’’ Flaherty told MLB.com.
Ryan, however, downplayed the notion that he was a celebrity of any sort and was just looking to be a role model for the youth at the moment. Ryan hopes that more kids from Maine would take the game seriously after his breaking into the big leagues.
‘’I wouldn't consider myself a celebrity there by any means, but coming from a state that has had few players play professionally, they definitely pull for the local kids,’’ he said.
He enjoys having a look at the younger players who are taking the game and wants to be an inspiration for them to take up the game. He dispels the notion that players from the area are unlikely to break into the big leagues, although very few so far have
made it to the Major Leagues so far.
‘’I enjoy going back and seeing younger kids and to show them that kids in the Northeast can play baseball, even when many people say you can't, coming from there,’’ Ryan said.
He is glad to be back in his hometown after spending some time in Dominican Republic playing winter ball to further hone his skills. He certainly is enjoying the food on his return to US and to spend holidays with his family.
Ryan Flaherty is a hard working athlete who is looking to do better and better at this highest stage of the game. It is important that he continues to work hard and attains more success. This will not only be good for him but also for many kids to whom he
will be an inspiration in taking up the game in future as a profession.
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