After 11 seasons in San Diego, IF Tim Flannery spent a combined 9 years in the Padres organization as a minor league manager, big league coach and broadcaster. Though a fan favorite for much of his playing career, it seems3 World Series rings as a member of Bruce Bochy’s Giants coaching staff have dented his relationship with the Padres’ faithful and on Thursday night, Flannery felt compelled to return fire with this since-deleted tweet :

Contacted by the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jeff Sanders after the outburst, Flannery admitted ““I let bullies, trolls and haters influence me enough to react; that’s the mistake I made,” :

“My point .. was to let the fans that were hammering me know that I can’t help the club; I’m retired from baseball,” said Flannery, adding that the Padres said they were not interested when his agent inquired about their managerial search in October. “If you don’t like what’s going on with the baseball team, as fans you need to demand more. If that’s what you want, you get what you get. In San Francisco, we sell out every game and if you don’t win, you get run out of town.

“My point was don’t harp on me because I won three World Series with the San Francisco Giants.”