UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO MADE IT TO THE MAJOR LEAGUES

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a comprehensive chart of every University of Nevada, Reno alumni who played baseball at the University of Nevada, Reno AND made it to the Major League level.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I'd love to be able to play defense as well as Mark Grace. He's way above me, but it's fun to be able to watch him and learn from him ... just to see how he plays the position and how confident he is." - Lyle Overbay in "Overbay working hard to become a solid, all-around player" (April 26, 2002 Interview)

University of Nevada, Reno
"Wolf Pack"

University of Nevada, Reno

University of Nevada, Reno Official Logo

Major League Baseball Player Alumni

1. Ed Plank 1971 - 1973 09-06-1978
2. Rob Richie 1984 - 1987 08-19-1989
3. Shawn Barton (Canyons) 1984 - 1984 08-06-1992
4. Chris Singleton 1992 - 1993 04-10-1999
5. Corky Miller 1997 - 1998 09-04-2001
6. Lyle Overbay 1996 - 1999 09-19-2001
7. Andy Dominique 1994 - 1997 05-25-2004
8. Chad Qualls 1999 - 2000 07-22-2004
9. Ryan Church 1999 - 2000 08-21-2004
10. Chris Prieto 1991 - 1992 05-14-2005
11. Darrell Rasner 2000 - 2002 09-06-2005
12. Joe Inglett 1997 - 2000 06-21-2006
13. Kevin Kouzmanoff 2003 - 2003 09-02-2006
14. Eddie Bonine (Washington State) 2003 - 2003 06-14-2008
15. Chris Dickerson 2002 - 2003 08-12-2008
16. Brett Hayes 2003 - 2005 05-22-2009
17. Chris Gimenez 2002 - 2004 06-03-2009
18. Konrad Schmidt (Arizona) 2007 - 2007 09-13-2010
19. Brock Stassi 2009 - 2011 04-03-2017
20. TJ Friedl 2014 - 2016 09-18-2021
21. Miles Mastrobuoni (San Mateo) 2016 - 2016 09-22-2022
UNR MLB Players | Research by Baseball Almanac
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baseball almanac fast facts

The University of Nevada, Reno baseball program started in 1947. Ed Plank was the first former Wolf Pack player to make it to the Major League level. Names that appear on the chart above in bold print are in the University of Nevada, Reno Hall of Fame.

So why is the University of Nevada, Reno using the "Wolf Pack" as their nickname? Does anybody else use that same / unique nickname?

A Brief History of the Nevada Mascot

The Nevada Wolf Pack, one of only two teams nationally to use the designation (North Carolina State is the other, though they use Wolfpack as one word while Nevada uses two words with a capital 'P'), has been using the Wolf Pack designation since at least the early 1920s.

Nevada's first athletic teams in the late 1890s and early 1900s were referred to as the Sagebrushers or even the Sage Hens after Nevada's state flowering plant, the sagebrush. There are references in print to the 'Sage Warriors', although none of these names were the official mascot of Nevada's athletic teams.

The Sierra Nevada mountains, located immediately to the west of Reno and prominent on the city's skyline, were and still are the home to numerous wild wolves. Residents and university students were familiar with the animal.

In the 1921-22 athletic season, a local writer described the spirited play of a Nevada team as a 'pack of wolves'. The name stuck and soon almost every reference to the athletic teams was the Nevada Wolves. In 1923, the students officially designated 'Wolves' as the school's mascot.

Since all teams are a group of players, the word pack followed quickly. In 1928-29, the Nevada student handbook referred to the athletic teams as Wolf Pack and two school songs were adopted, entitled 'The Wolf Pack' and 'Here Comes the Wolf Pack'.

The two 'wolf packs' in intercollegiate athletics have met only once. North Carolina State and Nevada were paired in the first round of the 1985 NCAA Basketball Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M. North Carolina State won, 65-56.

Source: University of Nevada.

Did you know that there were twenty-one former University of Nevada, Reno ballplayers who made it to the majors? Send updates to Baseball Almanac.