Tim Peeler: Why NC State baseball is honoring 4 former players in a new Ring of Honor

NC State coach Elliott Avent recently attended a handful of baseball celebrations that made him start thinking about how to leave a strong legacy for a handful of Wolfpack players that have made a lasting impact on the school’s athletic history.

And that’s when he decided that Mike Caldwell, Dan Plesac, Carlos Rodon and Trea Turner should be added to the NC State Athletics Ring of Honor, joining several other well-known alumni, like Bill Cowher and Debbie Antonelli, for their representation of the program during their college and professional careers.

All four will be honored Friday night during NC State’s football game against Florida State.

“I started thinking about what kind of legacy I want to leave here and it is so much more than about wins and losses,” Avent said on Wednesday. “This is about what those four guys have meant to the program and what they have accomplished after they left here.”

The jersey numbers of all four players will hang on the outfield wall of the newly renovated Doak Field at Dail Park when the season opens in February.

Identifying the first four baseball players to be honored wasn’t exactly easy for Avent, because of the program’s all-time success, which includes four ACC titles and a 1968 College World Series appearance under Sam Esposito, the 1991 ACC championship under Ray Tanner and Avent’s own three appearances in the College World Series.

“You don’t want to offend anyone, that’s for sure, but when you look at the most prominent players of the last 60 or so years, these are definitely some of the ones that established the consistency and tradition,” Avent said. “I ran that by a lot of people, and they concurred.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am about it. It’s going to be a great celebration.”

Caldwell, a lefthanded pitcher from Tarboro, was the freshman leader of the 1968 team that won the school’s first ACC title and made its first appearance in Wichita, Nebraska, at the College World Series. He was a two-time first-team All-ACC selection and the 1971 ACC Player of the Year. He has been selected for the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the NC State Hall of Fame and the Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor as well as their Circle of Champions.

He still ranks in the school’s top 10 all-time with 32 career wins and in the top 25 with 296 strikeouts. He was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 1971 draft of amateur players and quickly advanced through the minor leagues, making his major league debut on Sept. 4, 1971.

“Mike was a brash and accomplished pitcher, both in college and in the majors,” Avent said.

Plesac, a 6-foot-5 forward, was signed to play basketball out of Crown Point, Indiana, by former NC State coach Norm Sloan, but never suited up for the Wolfpack on the hardwoods. Instead, he joined his older brother Joe on Esposito’s baseball roster.

Though his college statistics were meager (13-7, 4.83 ERA in 27 starts), the rangy and durable lefty was taken in the first round of the 1983 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He played for 18 years with the Brewers, Cubs, Pirates, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks and Phillies, and he is one of fewer than 10 relievers in major league history to pitch in more than 1,000 games.

“The thing about Danny is that he showed up every single day for work at a position where it is impossible now to do that,” Avent said. “He’s one of the most unsung players in program history and does a great job every night representing NC State on the top baseball program on television.”

Rodon and Turner played together for three seasons at NC State and became rare college teammates to be drafted in the first round of the same draft in 2014.

Rodon, the native of Miami who grew up in Holly Springs, was a dominant college player who has been a front-line starter for the Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees. He pitched his first career no-hitter in 2021 against the Cleveland Indians and has appeared in three All-Star Games.

Turner, native of South Florida, has set NC State and major league records with his hitting ability and speed. The Wolfpack’s all-time leader in stolen bases, he has won two National League batting titles and played in three All-Star Games.

“To have all of these guys here together on the same weekend is incredible,” Avent said. “They have meant so much to the program, and this is a chance for us to celebrate them.”

Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at [email protected].