Others back in the late 1970s and early '80s might have known him as the Cal Poly student who peddled marijuana, or as the businessman with a taste for cocaine. Beneath the disguises was a former pitching prospect who would return to baseball after an unusual detour as a narcotics detective with the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

"I was an undercover narc," Treanor said matter-of-factly the other day on a back field at Roger Dean Stadium. "I bought it all, from heroin on down. A lot of cocaine."

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For 13 years starting in '75, he worked for his hometown SLO police department, first in patrol, later in narcotics.

Soon, Treanor was disappearing from his wife and two children for weeks at a time, roaming the streets in search of drug dealers. He wore disguises like a West Coast version of New York undercover legend Frank Serpico.

Treanor remembers having to make sure his car looked like that of a crook, too.

"I went to one house to make a buy. Happened to look out the window and saw two guys going through my car," Treanor said. "They were looking for a (police) radio, anything. I always kept a gun in the glove compartment for that reason, so when they opened the glove compartment they'd find that gun. I wanted them to see that."

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He left undercover work for the robbery/homicide division, "kicking down doors and chasing crooks," in the words of a fellow officer.