Clearwater, Fla. — One of these days Dan Plesac really will retire to the life of a trainer of standardbred horses. He has a training centre near his home in Valparaiso, Ind., and began that phase of his career during the past off-season.
But once again that dream has been put on hold. Once again, baseball has called and Plesac has heeded, at the age of 41.
Plesac is still an effective left-handed reliever and his presence is like having another coach in the bullpen. He becomes important on a team such as the Philadelphia Phillies, whose off-season moves have made them contenders in the National League East.
"Plesac has a big influence on the bullpen guys just with his knowledge, his experience," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said.
Plesac already has had a long conversation with pitching coach Joe Kerrigan on their theories for dealing with right-handed hitters.
When the Phillies signed free agents Jim Thome and David Bell and traded for pitcher Kevin Millwood, Plesac couldn't resist coming back for one more season, at least.
"I started thinking about what they had done in the off-season," Plesac said. "This has a chance to be a legitimate playoff team. There's some credibility, some established players. That had a lot of influence on me making the decision."
He was training a couple of two-year-old pacers, a filly and a colt, at his farm when he decided in mid-December to return to the Phillies, who obtained him this past May in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays for right-hander Cliff Politte.
His father has also been training a couple of pacers. Plesac has two horses racing on the Woodbine-Mohawk circuit with trainer John Burns and three two-year-olds in training.
The decision to return required some thought for family reasons.
"It was tough because, especially my oldest daughter [who is 10], was really upset when I decided to play another year," Plesac said. "I would take my kids to school in the morning, pick them up in the afternoon. They would go out to the farm with me on the weekends and had a blast doing it. My daughter bought a horse and is taking riding lessons. It seems like the last three or four years they keep wishing, 'Is this dad's last year, is this it?'
"I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be still doing this at 41. This has been an incredible ride, it's been a lot of fun."
Plesac still talks highly of Toronto. He came to the Blue Jays in 1997 after a trade with Pittsburgh and was traded to Arizona in 1999. He rejoined the Blue Jays as a free agent for the 2001 season and was again traded.
He was 1-2 with a 3.38 earned-run average in 19 appearances last season with Toronto and 2-1 with a 4.70 ERA and one save in 41 appearances with the Phillies.
The Blue Jays have undergone many changes since Plesac first joined them.
"Change is never easy," he said. "Manager changes, general manager changes, ownership changes and it shocks everybody. It shocks from the front office down to the players. There are still a lot of people who are missing the Paul Beeston days. So change is never easy but it's part of baseball.
"Was I surprised to be traded to Philadelphia in May? I was shocked, but I understand why. J. P. [general manager Ricciardi] has to look after the best interests of the Blue Jays and what's going to happen in Toronto, not this year but three or four years from now.
"Sometimes as a player you don't see that initially. You're just angered about getting traded; getting traded to a team that was in last place. It just didn't make a whole of sense but you look at it, it makes sense. They got younger, they got a guy they think is going to help them for a few years down the road.
"I got over it. At first, I was disappointed. I don't think anybody born outside of Canada enjoyed playing for the Blue Jays more than I did."
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