Flynn

From Wiki Gonzalez

Flynn is one of the youngest regulars on BTF, being 19 years old as of today(Feburary 2005). At the time of his appearance on Baseball Primer in 2001/2002, he was the youngest regular by some distance. There's now others in his age range, though.

He's a San Francisco native, but a rabid Red Sox fan, due to his upbringing (Flynn's parents are from Connecticut and lived in Boston for many years before moving to the West Coast). He is a member of the Sons of Sam Horn, posting as Spacemans Bong, a reflection of Flynn's love for off-the-wall baseball players. He's on the verge of being run off from there for being an arrogant small-dicked fuckface.

Flynn is an avowed traditionalist, favoring asymmetrical ballparks, and speaking on the record against players who pull down their pant legs to hide stirrups, and players who wear batting gloves. He is for the renovation of Fenway Park.

Flynn also tends to throw his support around liberally for other teams. Being a San Franciscan, he is committed to the principle of free love. The Red Sox have always been Flynn's favorite team, but he also has a soft spot for the Giants and the Mets. The Giants fandom is fairly obvious, but the Mets may not be as much, considering the acrimonious history between the club and Flynn's Red Sox. The reason for this is that Flynn's father and siblings grew up in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and went to many games at Shea Stadium as children, meaning much of the family roots for the Mets. In fact, Flynn's aunt babysat the children of Miracle Mets right fielder Ron Swoboda. (Ron's apparently a very nice guy, and paid well.) The signing of Flynn's favorite player, former Red Sox right-hander Pedro Martinez, by the New York Mets is another reason.

Flynn visits Pacific Bell Park (he hates the "SBC Park" name) with great frequency, going to as many as a quarter of the Giants' home games. He also visits the Oakland Coliseum (presumably he hates whatever corporate name it bears this week) between a half-dozen to a dozen times per year, and often makes an annual trip back to Fenway Park. This year, Flynn also hopes to visit Shea Stadium.

Baseball Primer is the principal reason Flynn is interested in statistical analysis. The reviews of the Bill James New Historical Baseball Abstract prompted him to buy the book and drastically overhauled his view of baseball.

Flynn is a fan of baseball history (it's how he became interested in statistical analysis), and likes to consider himself among the more knowledgeable posters on BTF on baseball history, particularly Red Sox history. He attributes this to being a bookworm and believes he has cultivated a rather impressive baseball library, considering his age (young) and economic situation (destitute).

Flynn tends to have a hot temper, illustrated most explicity in a flamewar after Game 5 of the 2003 American League Division Series, after Athletics fans threw a bottle, among other things, at him. He cooled off, and has sometimes defended the Athletics and their fans, particularly on SoSH.

Flynn also put himself in the middle of an argument over college journalism, and apologized after realizing he was acting like an asshole. Flynn gave up journalism about a year after the incident, realizing making $28,000 a year with crappy hours to write stories about ballplayers doesn't really sound like much fun.

Flynn is well known as a fan of world sport. He's among the most frequent contributors to the Primer Lounge concerning cricket. In the realm of football, he never calls it "soccer" and is a committed Arsenal supporter. He recently worked himself into a frenzy over the Arsenal-Manchester United match. Flynn hates Manchester United. A lot.

He is one of Primer's only serious rugby players, with San Francisco Golden Gate RFC, one of America's best clubs.

He is perhaps Primer's ultimate authority on the Manic Street Preachers (a Welsh rock band), Wales, South African cricket, South Africa itself, rugby, and Bill Lee, a funny, but talented Red Sox left-hander known as the Spaceman, and inspiration for Flynn's SoSH handle.

Flynn also had a fair career as a right-handed sidearm pitcher in high school, and is perhaps the only Primate who can throw the screwball. Flynn is also proud of his BIG curveball and darting 83-mph sinker, and would like to challenge any Primate to a Wiffleball death match, his preferred form of pitching following his brilliant hardball career.

Flynn tried very hard to be objective about this.

Contrary to some reports, Flynn is not Voxter, who is from Oregon and is left-handed.