#MyCardMonday

I am feeling a little bit of school pride this evening while I am sitting here awaiting the regional baseball game between NC State and TCU.  I feel asleep last night while I was watching the game and missed a little bit of magic off the bat of Chance Shepard in the ninth inning against the Horned Frogs....

The two run home run put the Pack 9 in the drivers seat for the regional.  They play TCU again tonight and possibly again tomorrow if the hosting Horned Frogs win the game this evening.  TCU had to play a game this afternoon against Stony Brook, so the Pack are definitely at an advantage.  Let's hope that they advance......

This year's Wolfpack team does not have some of the high end talent as they have had in recent years with players like Carlos Rodon, Trea Turner, and Brett Austin.  There aren't any USA Baseball cards of the current Wolfpack players floating around, so my choice for #MyCardMonday is going to come from a former Wolfpack player.  You have all seen my Rodon and Turner cards, so let's go with something different......

While Baseball-Reference lists almost 200 players from NC State appearing in an MLB or MiLB game, there have been very few players from the school who have been truly impactful.  The names of the long term Wolfpack players in the Majors include guys like Greg Briley, Mike Caldwell, Roger Craig, and Chad Orvella.  

Well, I passed all of those guy by for another former Wolfpacker.  The one, the only, Dan Plesac.  Currently he is "starring" on the MLB Network.  I think this is the highlight of his broadcasting career.....

While his best player highlight was when he punched Dave Coggin in the middle of game......

As a player Plesac actually had a losing record, but ended his career with an ERA+ of 119.  13 of his 18 seasons actually had a high ERA+ than his career number including a four year run of 147, 176, 166, and 165 for Brewers between 1986 and 1989.  His WAR for those 4 seasons was an even 10 which is really good for a relief pitcher.  Plesac made the American League All-Star team three of those four years.  In fact, JAWS rates Plesac in the top 100 relief pitchers of all-time ahead of notables like Huston Street, Rafael Soriano, Jason Isringhausen, and Ugueth Urbina.  

So, after flipping through my cards I found the perfect Dan Plesac card for #MyCardMonday.  

The card is NC State red, or really close to it, and on the back there is a shout out to the school.......