NC State baseball legend Sam Esposito passes away

Published Jul 10, 2018

Tim Peeler

Contributor to The Wolfpacker

Sam Esposito didn’t beat you with trickery or data-driven matchups. He beat you with the fundamentals of good defense, outstanding pitching and timely hitting, the kind of baseball he learned growing up in Depression-era Chicago.

The legendary NC State baseball and assistant basketball coach who helped guide the Wolfpack to national prominence in both sports, died early Tuesday morning at his home in the North Carolina mountains, according to his family. He was 86.

Esposito found his way to North Carolina following a 10-year Major League Baseball career in which he was part of the 1959 American League champion Chicago White Sox. A utility infielder, he played in 560 games in the majors with the White Sox and the Kansas City Athletics.

He was an assistant high school basketball coach and head baseball coach at East Chicago (Ind.) High School, when NC State basketball head coach Norm Sloan made a recruiting visit to the school.

“I said a few things about looking to get a college baseball job down that way and if he ever heard of anything, to let me know,” Esposito said in an interview with Bruce Winkworth. “He was getting in the car to go to the airport and I got in the car with [head coach John Barratto]. We drove off and got about a block away and Norm came up behind us. We pull over. Sam, if I’m not mistaken, Vic Sorrell just retired [as baseball coach] at State. Would you be interested in that job? And you can be my assistant.’”

Esposito did both jobs for 12 years, helping Sloan turn the Wolfpack into a national power. The Wolfpack won three ACC basketball championships from 1970-74. In 1973-74, and Esposito won the national title ring he missed in 1953 at Indiana after helping coach the Wolfpack to a 30-1 record and the 1974 NCAA title.

He left the basketball team following the 1977-78 season to concentrate on baseball only. For 21 years on the diamond, the Pack never had a losing record, won four ACC titles and reached the College World Series in 1968 — Esposito’s second year on the job.

Some of his former Wolfpack baseball stars fondly remembered their coach.

“I loved playing for Coach Esposito,” said former Wolfpack catcher Francis Combs, a member of the school’s first College Word Series team in 1968. “Some people were intimidated by him, but if you played the game hard, he left you alone and let you play.

“He sometimes would get in guys’ faces and use a little salty language and some guys didn’t handle it well. But some guys did, and that helped build NC State into a championship baseball program.”

Freddie Combs was a former All-America outfielder from Hertford and Francis’ brother on the 1968 CWS team.

“Coach Esposito was tough, but all in wanting to make you a better player,” he said. “I enjoyed playing little games with him in the infield to improve my skills, my reaction time and my reflexes.”

Doug Strange, a long-time major league baseball that played for six teams over 10 years, is now in his eighth year as director of player personnel for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I’m saddened to hear about the loss of Coach Esposito,” Strange said. “I have so many memories about him and our teams. Some are funny, some are eye opening and most all are very meaningful. I would not be where I am today without Coach Esposito recruiting me to come to NC State. I won’t forget the impact he had on me personally, so it’s a sad day.”

Dan Plesac, who pitched for Esposito from 1981-83, became a three-time MLB All-Star relief pitcher and has been a broadcaster with MLB Network since 2009.

“Sam Esposito was the most influential coach in my baseball career,” Plesac stated. “Leader of men, knew when to slap you on the back and also when to give you an earful. Passionate about doing things the right way. I can still hear him saying, “Geez, Danny, just throw strikes.”

Tim Stoddard, currently an assistant coach at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, after 22 years at Northwestern University, was one of two people in the history of American sports to win an NCAA basketball championship (1974) and a World Series championship (1983 with the Baltimore Orioles). Kenny Lofton is the other.

“Coach Esposito was the most influential man in both my basketball and (most especially my) baseball careers,” Stoddard said. “He really helped keep me focused on the now in sports and the things that you cannot control, not the thing that you had no control over. He made sure that I was getting baseball in during that season and basketball in during that season, not cheating ne to get a step ahead of the other.

“I give him the credit for me accomplishing the things in baseball that I was fortunate enough to achieve.”

Tracy Woodson, the head baseball coach at Richmond University, was a member of the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Championship team. He played for Esposito from 1982-84.

“I feel that everything I earned in my baseball career I owe a part of that to Coach Esposito,” Woodson stated. “He handed out a lot of tough love but what I learned in my three years at State will never be forgotten. Our one-on-one conversations I have never taken for granted.”

Mike Caldwell was the freshman star of the 1968 CWS team and 1970 ACC Player of the Year, and was then a long-time MLB pitcher who finished second in 1978 Cy Young Award race to the Yankees’ Ron Guidry.

“Sam came in and showed the team how to approach the game like a professional,” Caldwell noted. “He kept the workouts simple and we played the game without a lot of trick plays. His gameplan was 1, Catch the ball, 2, throw the ball, 3, hit the ball. He was simply a ‘no nonsense’ guy that had a great athletic life and was willing to share some of it with his players. He will be missed by all that played for him.”

Ray Tanner played shortstop at NC State from 1977-80 before becoming Esposito’s assistant and then succeeded him as NC State’s coach from 1988-96 before taking the same position at South Carolina, where Tanner won two national titles before retiring to become its athletics director.

“Coach Espo was my teacher of life,” Tanner said. “Baseball was a part, but my journey through life always involved his touch. I never made an important decision unless he gave me guidance. From my first day as a freshman and throughout my professional life, he was my second father. The greatest coach ever--R.I.P.”

He was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.

His son Sammy played at NC State and is now an assistant coach at Wichita State.