Ryan Flaherty is an American professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player in the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

’ minor league system.

Flaherty was born in Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

, and was named Maine Gatorade High School Player of the Year as a senior at Deering High School

Deering High School

Deering High School is a public high school in Portland, Maine which educates grades 9–12. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district. It is named after the Deering Center neighborhood it serves...

.

Ranked 141st best pro prospect by Baseball America

Baseball America

Baseball America is a magazine which covers baseball at every level, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in high school, college, Japan, and the minor leagues. It is currently published in the form of a bi-weekly newspaper, five annual reference book titles, a weekly podcast, and a...

, choosing to instead play collegiately at Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

.

High School Career

Flaherty graduated from Deering High School in 2005. In 2004, lead Nova Seafood to the American Legion World Series Championship
as well as winning the Telegram League batting title. Was a 2005 American Baseball Coaches Association

American Baseball Coaches Association

The American Baseball Coaches Association is a baseball coaching organization formed in 1945. It is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level.-History:...

 Preseason All-American also winning Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

's Mr. Baseball

Mr. Baseball

Mr. Baseball is a 1992 American film that starred Tom Selleck and was directed by Fred Schepisi.-Plot:Jack Elliot is an aging American baseball player put on the trading block by the New York Yankees in favor of a rookie first-baseman , and there's only one taker: the Nagoya Chunichi Dragons of...

 award.

Flaherty lettered in baseball, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, captained the football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 team, and was a finalist for the Fitzpatrick Trophy, which is given to Maine's best football player.

College Career

As a freshman Flaherty was named an honorable mention Freshman All-American by collegiate baseball. In sixty-two games Flaherty had a .339 batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 with 49 RBI's, 19 doubles

Double (baseball)

In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

, 2 homers and an on-base percentage of .421, led team with 22 multi-hit and 15 multi-RBI games.

As a sophomore Flaherty was named Second-team All-American selection by Rivals.com

Rivals.com

Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting. The network was started in 1996 and currently employs more than 300 personnel.-Schools:The individual collegiate sites can be found...

 and ABCA

American Baseball Coaches Association

The American Baseball Coaches Association is a baseball coaching organization formed in 1945. It is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level.-History:...

. Selected ABCA All-South Region Team as well as Second-Team All SEC. He had a .381 batting average with 57 RBI's, 23 doubles, 4 homers and an on-base percentage of .438 in 67 games.

Professional Career

Flaherty entered the 2008 MLB June Amateur Draft and was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the first round (41st). In four seasons in both A and AA. Flaherty has played 322 games with a .279 batting average, on-base percentage of .347, slugging percentage of .455, 182 RBI's, 38 homers and 79 doubles. He had his two best professional seasons in 2009 and 2010.