This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO -- When Dan Plesac joins John Schriffen in CHSN’s White Sox television broadcast booth for the upcoming road trip to New York and Baltimore, it will be a return to baseball roots for the top-notch MLB Network analyst.
Plesac never played for the Mets, Orioles or White Sox during his stellar 18-year career, covering 1,064 appearances and 158 saves. But as a native of nearby Gary, Indiana, Plesac grew up a White Sox fan.
“I know to a lot of people, [I'm] a guy who played for the Cubs and did Cubs pre- and postgame,” Plesac told MLB.com of Chicago-related career moments during a Thursday phone interview. “But I’ve been White Sox since the first time I took my first breath.
“The first game I went to was in the '70s. I remember going to a White Sox/A’s game at old Comiskey Park, and all I could remember, I think I was 8 or 9 years old, was all the A’s having the handlebar mustaches -- Joe Rudi, Rollie Fingers, Gene Tenace -- and I was just a White Sox guy. That part where I grew up in Gary, Ind., everything was more identified on the South Side.”
With Steve Stone taking a few more games away during the ’25 season, Plesac is on board for 21 games as a replacement analyst. He wasn’t sure if MLB Network would be amenable to this extended commitment when the White Sox first approached, but he’s excited for the opportunity.
Plesac also has had fruitful conversations with Schriffen and the White Sox game production crew going into Monday’s debut.
“I’m not trying to go in there and make a point. I’m not trying to come in there and make a name for myself. I want the broadcast to be a great broadcast,” Plesac said. “I want the White Sox fans at home to know I’ve been following the White Sox and when I’m talking about Shane Smith or Adrian Houser, the information I’m going to give you, I know it’s accurate. I take a lot of pride in that.
“I’ve had great conversations with the producers and the kind of things I like to show highlights of or put a package together of pitchers or pitches. I’m looking forward to it.”
As a 24-year-old rookie with the Brewers in 1986, making the team from Double-A out of Spring Training, Plesac’s first Opening Day took place at old Comiskey Park. Mike Ditka, the Chicago Bears legend, threw out the ceremonial first pitch coming off the Bears’ Super Bowl championship dominance of the Patriots.
It was an overriding feeling of disbelief as Plesac, the White Sox fan, stood with the rest of his Milwaukee teammates.
“I would only go to 4 or 5 games per year, but we sat in the outfield bleachers, in the lower and upper deck in left field, trying to get a ball during batting practice or maybe would get a home run,” Plesac said. “I just remember thinking, ‘Man, this is crazy. I grew up a White Sox fan and here I am standing on the foul line in the ballpark.’
“That was the only ballpark I knew. The only games I had ever been to in my life were at Comiskey. I was everything White Sox.”
Bill Melton and Harold Baines were two of Plesac’s White Sox favorites growing up, joking he had the memorable “Har-old, Har-old” fans’ chant going through his mind when he first faced the Hall of Famer. He had the same thrill going against fellow Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk. Plesac sang along with organist Nancy Faust’s “Na Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye” as a fan in the stands, but also was played off by that same Steam tune as an opposing pitcher.
“It was a lot better when you were singing it then getting sung at,” said Plesac with a laugh.
Now he will be talking about the White Sox, going through their latest rebuild incarnation, with some signs building for future hope under general manager Chris Getz’s plan, in Plesac’s estimation. He pointed to a strong talent return from Boston in the Garrett Crochet deal as an example.
“There are growing pains that come with it with young players,” Plesac said. “You give guys an opportunity. You give guys chances.
“If there’s one thing I realized in the game of baseball, teams that look so bad that you say have no chance can drastically turn things around in a hurry if a couple of the young players or a couple of the young pitchers hit. You don’t know what you are going to have until you put the out there and see what they can do. You have to live with mistakes.”