By Media Services Intern Billy Lee
When Major League Baseball began the 2010 season, seven former Nevada Wolf Pack baseball players began the year on 25 man rosters around the league. Lyle Overbay ('99), Chad Qualls ('00), Ryan Church ('00), Joe Inglett ('00), Kevin Kouzmanoff ('03), Eddie Bonine ('03), and Chris Dickerson ('03), began the 2010 season in the major leagues.
Nevada posted a 38-20 record, going 21-9 in the Big West conference in 1999. After finishing second in the Big West Conference, the Pack made an NCAA Regional appearance, going further than any Nevada team had gone in the tournament before. The 1999 team featured four current big leaguers; outfielder Lyle Overbay, RHP Chad Qualls, LHP/outfielder Ryan Church, and outfielder Joe Inglett. Overbay left Nevada in 1999, but in 2000 Qualls, Church and Inglett led the Pack to their second Big West conference title in what was each of their final seasons in the Silver and Blue.
Overbay, who is in his 10th season in the bigs, is the starting first baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays. After splitting time his first five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Milwaukee Brewers, Overbay was traded to the Blue Jays in 2005. Overbay hit 16 home runs and drove in 64 runs for the Blue Jays in 2009.
Chad Qualls is the closer for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Qualls posted a 3.63 ERA in 2009 while saving 24 games. Qualls' 2009 campaign ended when he dislocated his patella against the Houston Astros requiring him to have season-ending surgery, but Qualls returned to the closing role for the D'Backs in 2010.
Joe Inglett made his Major League debut with the Cleveland Indians in 2006, seeing action in 64 games, batting .284 and posting a .332 on-base percentage. Inglett was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007, and spent the past three seasons in Toronto with former Pack teammate Lyle Overbay. Inglett began the 2010 season with the Milwaukee Brewers as a utility player, where he adds a left-handed bat and speed to their bench.
Ryan Church began his big league career with the now defunct Montreal Expos who became the Washington Nationals. In 2007, he was traded by the Nationals to the New York Mets and in 2009 he was traded to the Atlanta Braves. Church spent the second half of the 2009 season in Atlanta and became a free agent this offseason. On January 11, 2010 Church signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Church is off to a hot start in 2010, batting .438 with four RBI and six runs scored two weeks into the season.
The 2003 Nevada Wolf Pack posted a 32-24 record, going 19-10 in the conference play. The Pack finished second place in the Western Athletic Conference, only 5.5 games back of Rice, who went on to win the 2003 College World Series. The 2003 Pack featured three current major leaguers; infielder Kevin Kouzmanoff, RHP Eddie Bonine, and outfielder Chris Dickerson.
Since 2006, Kevin Kouzmanoff has spent time with the Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres and was recently acquired by the Oakland Athletics this offseason. In 2006, Kouzmanoff became the only player in major league history to hit a grand slam on the first pitch of his first career at-bat. Kouzmanoff has a .261 career batting average and in 2009, set a National League record for third baseman posting a .990 fielding percentage with the San Diego Padres. Kouzmanoff will play third base and hit cleanup for the A's in 2010.
Eddie Bonine made his major league debut for the Detroit Tigers in 2008. Bonine appeared in 10 games for the Tigers in 2009, going 1-1 with a 4.46 ERA, and will pitch out of the bullpen for the Tigers in 2010.
On opening day 2010, Chris Dickerson hit leadoff and started in center field for the Cincinnati Reds. Dickerson is a .283 career hitter and hit .304 and scored 20 runs in 2008, his rookie year. In 2008, along with former Major League pitcher Jack Cassel, Dickerson founded Players for the Planet, an organization which supports the educational efforts of Kids for Saving the Earth, and encourages all families to learn what more they can do to encourage saving the environment in their homes, communities and sport facilities.
Eddie Plank ('73), Shawn Barton ('84), Rob Richie ('87), Chris Singleton ('93), Chris Prieto ('93), Andy Dominique ('97), Corky Miller ('98), Darrell Rasner ('02), Chris Gimenez ('04), and Brett Hayes ('05) make up the rest of the 17 total Pack alumni that have MLB experience. Chris Gimenez and Brett Hayes saw time at the major league level last season and are currently playing at the minor league level, while Darrell Rasner is in his second year pitching for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League.
