Dan Plesac, a former N.C. State left-hander who had a successful 18-year big-league career, is offering his insight into the game as a commentator on the recently debuted MLB Network.
Plesac, a first-round draft pick out of State by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1983, was a hard-throwing lefty who was a three-time All-Star (1987, '88,'89) who began his career as a closer. He later had lasting power as a situational pitcher and kept taking the mound until the age of 41, making 1,064 appearances in the majors. Plesac retired after the 2003 season with 158 saves and a career ERA of 3.64.
In his early years in the majors when he threw in the mid-90s, Plesac had 110 saves over a four-year stretch from 1987-1990.
"He had a great arm," former N.C. State coach Ray Tanner said Friday from Columbia, S.C., where he is getting his South Carolina team ready for a weekend series with Long Beach State.
Tanner was an assistant coach for the Pack during Plesac's years, and still stays in touch with the fun-loving lefty who is described on Baseball-Reference.com as a "bullpen humorist." It was a characteristic that developed long before Plesac made it to the major leagues in 1986.
"The thing I remember most about Dan was that he roomed with [catcher] Jim Toman [at State]," Tanner said. "That was a heck of duo. There were more pranks pulled by those two than the rest of the team combined. They liked to make the game fun. He [Plesac] was a starter, but in Double-A they made him a closer and that was his ticket [to the big leagues]."
Toman became Tanner's longtime assistant coach, rejoining him in 1990, and developed into one of the top recruiters in the country. Toman followed Tanner to South Carolina in 1997 and stayed there until taking the head coaching job at Liberty in June of 2007.
Plesac has a smooth delivery on the MLB Network, which has daily panel discussions of baseball happenings as well game highlights and other features. During spring training, the network is showing exhibition games and airing some of the World Baseball Classic contests. MLB Network is available on digital cable packages and also on satelitte systems.
"I watch the network all the time," Tanner said. "Dan offers a lot of insight into the game after pitching for 18 seasons. He knows the game, loves the game, and has become a good analyst. I've enjoyed watching him."
From what it sounds like, not half as much as Plesac enjoyed playing the game.
