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.
"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
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# | MLB Player Name | Dates Played | Debut | Box |
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 |
# | MLB Player Name | Dates Played | Debut | Box |
UNR MLB Players | Research by Baseball Almanac |
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.