"Eric Plunk presents the Yankees with a problem. But it's one of those problems most people like to have. Plunk, at 6-5 and 210 pounds, is a big, strong right-hander. The problem is figuring where he fits in.
When he came from the A's, Plunk was considered a reliever. And with the Yankees, his first 20 appearances were also out of the bullpen. Then he was moved to the starting rotation, where he finished the year strong. It was an experiment that may pay big dividends in 1990.
'I didn't know what to expect at first,' says Plunk. 'But having done it, I feel comfortable as a starter and am excited about winning a spot in the rotation.'
Yankee pitching coach Billy Connors would also like to see Plunk as a starter. 'He's shown flashes of brilliance,' Connors says. 'He must sustain that consistency over a full season to be an effective starter for us.'
At 26, and with a powerful right arm, Plunk could develop into an impact player on the Yankees for years to come."
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Eric was acquired by the Yankees last year on June 21 along with Luis Polonia and Greg Cadaret from the A's in exchange for Rickey Henderson. At the time of the trade, he was 1-1 with a save and a 2.20 ERA in 23 relief appearances. Over 28.2 innings with Oakland he had allowed 17 hits, seven runs (all earned), walked 12, struck out 24, allowed one home run and had a .174 batting average against.
His first 20 Yankee appearances were in relief. Eric was blistering through his first seven appearances (before the All-Star break), going 3-0 with a 0.71 ERA from June 23-July 8. He made his Yankee debut on June 23 at Kansas City (1.0 IP, 0 ER) and his first win came at Detroit on June 29 (2.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER). Eric notched his second win on July 6 against Detroit despite allowing an 11th inning homer to Lou Whitaker as the Yanks won in the bottom of the 11th. He won again in his next outing on July 8 at Boston with four shutout innings.
Eric's next five outings (July 14-24) were not as overpowering (7.1 IP, 6 ER, 7.36 ERA) as his ERA climbed to 3.15. On July 24 at Cleveland, Joey Belle hit a grand slam after Eric entered the game with the bases loaded.
His final eight relief outings were strong (13.2 IP, 5 ER, 3.29 ERA) despite a 0-2 record. On July 31 against Toronto, he pitched a season high 4.2 relief innings, allowing four hits and no runs in a 6-5 Yankee loss. He lost on August 2 (second game) against Minnesota as he allowed a 10th inning run in a 4-3 Yankee loss.
Plunk made his Yankee starting debut on August 24 against Baltimore and he allowed four runs (three earned) over five innings and took the loss in a 9-2 Oriole win. He got his first win as a starter on August 30 against Oakland, allowing four runs (all earned) over seven innings in an 8-5 win; it was the Yankees' first win on the way to a team season-best nine straight. His finest outing as a starter came in his last outing on September 27 at Detroit- Eric pitched a season-high eight innings, allowing one earned run on three singles and tied his career high with 10 strikeouts.
As a Yankee, Eric was 7-5 with a 3.69 ERA in 27 appearances. His eight wins overall were his major league high as was his overall total of 50 appearances. He had a .237 batting average against, second best on the club as was his day-game batting average against (.224). Eric was equally tough on left-handed hitters (.236) and right-handed hitters (.238). He was 4-2 with a 2.72 ERA (36.1 IP) at Yankee Stadium and 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA (39.1 IP) on the road.
As a reliever, Plunk was 3-2 (no save opportunities) with a 3.21 ERA (33.2 IP) in 20 appearances. He gave up six home runs and stranded nine of 18 inherited baserunners, and his ERA ranked third among Yankee relievers with 30 or more innings. As a starter, Plunk was 4-3 with a 4.07 ERA (42 IP) in seven starts and went at least five innings in six of his seven starts. Overall the Yankees were 11-16 in games he pitched.
Eric signed a contract for the 1990 season.
Originally signed by Yankee scouts Don Lindeberg and Bob Nieman, Eric was selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the June 1981 free agent draft. He spent the year at Bradenton in the short-season Gulf Coast League. 1982 was his second year in a short-season league, this one with Paintsville of the Appalachian League; he struck out 59 in 64 innings and completed four of his eight starts.
Plunk had an excellent year at Fort Lauderdale (A) of the Florida State League in 1983 despite his 8-10 record. He fanned 109 in 125 innings and tied for the league with teammate Jose Rijo with four shutouts. Eric spent a second consecutive season at Fort Lauderdale in 1984- he had a 12-12 record in 28 starts and compiled a 2.86 ERA with seven complete games. He fanned 152 in 176.1 innings but had control problems, walking 123, or 6.28 per nine innings.
In 1985, he went 8-2 with a 3.40 ERA at Double-A Huntsville before being promoted to Triple-A Tacoma. He ended up 0-5 with a 5.77 ERA with control (50 BB, 53 IP) being his biggest problem. Eric was once gunned at 91 MPH in the ninth inning of a game.
Eric started 1986 at Tacoma and appeared in six games, going 2-3 with a 4.68 ERA. He was called up to Oakland on May 12. His first decision was a loss in relief at New York on May 21, and his first start was on May 31 in Oakland against the Yankees. Eric started six games in June and picked up his first major league win with 7.2 innings of 3-hit ball against Texas on the 14th.
He pitched his best game of the year against Milwaukee on July 5, going 8.1 innings and allowing just two earned runs and four hits. Unfortunately, he was tagged with the loss. Plunk started seven more games after that before returning to the bullpen on September 5. He pitched 14.1 innings the rest of the way, getting no decisions.
Plunk split 1987 between Oakland and Tacoma. He opened the season in the A's starting rotation and made nine consecutive starts. At that point he was 1-2 with a 4.34 ERA. He was moved to the bullpen on May 22 and had six consecutive relief outings before making two starts in mid-June. Eric lost both starts and was sent to Tacoma on June 23 with a record of 1-4 with a 5.84 ERA.
He moved in as Tacoma's closer and was overpowering in that role. In 24 games he was 1-1 with nine saves and his ERA was 1.56 with 56 strikeouts in 34.2 innings. Eric was returned to the A's on August 25 when Jay Howell was lost for the season.
Placed in a relief role for the balance of the season, Eric recorded three wins and a save in his first eight appearances after his return with 21 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. Overall, he made 15 appearances after his return and was 3-2 with two saves and a 2.70 ERA.
The hard-throwing right-hander spent his first full year in the majors in 1988 and appeared in 49 games, all in relief. He was used in the 'middle man' role for much of the season and averaged just a little more than a strikeout per inning (79 K, 78.0 IP).
In 16 appearances from April 27-June 14, Eric allowed just three earned runs over 19.1 innings (1.40 ERA) and picked up three wins and a save in that span. He missed nearly a month of the season from June 24 until after the All-Star break with tendinitis in his right shoulder.
In his third appearance after his return, Eric struck out a season high seven Angels in 3.2 innings at Anaheim on July 27. In four July outings he allowed just one earned run and two hits in 7.1 innings (1.23 ERA). He worked four innings in back-to-back outings on August 17 at Baltimore and August 20 at Boston; he allowed just one earned run and struck out seven in those eight innings. He went 4.2 innings against New York on September 3, his longest outing of the season, and was rewarded with a victory.
Control has been one of the biggest problems of Eric's career, but in his final nine appearances of the year he walked just three over 17.0 innings and struck out 17 in that span. He allowed just 62 hits in his 78 innings and held opposing batters to a .217 batting average.
He made one appearance in the American League Championship Series, pitching a third of an inning in Game 3. He allowed a hit and had a strikeout. Eric appeared in Games 2 and 5 of the World Series. He struck out the side in his one inning of work in Game 2 and totaled 1.2 shutout innings for the Series.
Eric graduated from Bellflower (CA) High School in 1981. He played baseball and was named All-State. Eric enjoys hunting and fishing."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Tied for Florida State League in shutouts (4), 1983.
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
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