Flaherty carries Maine flag into postseason

Ryan Flaherty, INF, Orioles
Hometown: Portland, Maine

Despite its presence in Red Sox country, Maine is far from a baseball hotbed. Since 2006, only six Maine natives have played in the Majors, and only three played during this season. Flaherty, who is the second most recent player from Maine to debut, was a three-sport star at Deering High School. He lettered in basketball and football -- he was even a finalist for the Fitzpatrick Trophy, given to Maine's top football player each year -- but baseball was his calling.

Flaherty's father, Ed, is the head coach at Division III University of Southern Maine, and he was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2004. The younger Flaherty has carried on the family's baseball tradition. He was Maine's Mr. Baseball in '05, and he also won the state's Gatorade Player of the Year Award.

In a state without much baseball tradition, Flaherty stands out as one of the best and carries that flag into the postseason.