American baseball player
Baseball player
Wallace Keith Joyner
(born June 16, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for four major league teams during a 16-year career, most notably for the
California Angels
, for whom he was an
All-Star
. He was a member of the pennant-winning
1998
San Diego Padres
.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Joyner attended
Redan High School
in
Stone Mountain, Georgia
,
[1]
a
suburb of Atlanta
. He attended college at
Brigham Young University
. In the
1983 MLB draft
, the California Angels selected Joyner in the third round as a compensation pick from the
New York Yankees
for signing
Don Baylor
.
Joyner credited a stint with the
Mayaguez Indians
of the
Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League
as fundamental in his improvement as a slugger.
[
citation needed
]
Then-batting coach Jose Manuel Morales forced him to do power weight training and modify his posture at the batting cage, so as to develop upper body strength. He was consequently the top hitter on Puerto Rico's winter league on the 1985?86 season, winning the Triple Crown (.356, 14 HR, 48 RBI) in 54 games.
California Angels
[
edit
]
During his rookie season with the California Angels, Joyner became a fan favorite and briefly inspired a sensation in which
Anaheim Stadium
was dubbed "Wally World", after the fictional theme park in the film
National Lampoon's Vacation
.
ESPN
announcer
Chris Berman
called him Wally "Absorbine" Joyner, a nickname that stuck.
[2]
Joyner was the starting first baseman in the
1986 All-Star Game
. Joyner tied
Darryl Strawberry
for first place in that year's
Home Run Derby
.
When the Angels met the
New York Yankees
in a game in August 1986, a fan threw a knife at Joyner. Joyner was grazed on the left arm by the butt end of the weapon, escaping injury.
[3]
Joyner broke up two
no-hit
bids in the ninth during the 1986 season. Against the
Texas Rangers
on June 16, he foiled
Charlie Hough
's bid with a single with one out in the ninth, scoring
Jack Howell
(who had reached on a three-base error) to tie the game at 1?1. Joyner, whose hit would be the Angels' only one of the game, eventually scored the winning run on
Orlando Mercado
's
passed ball
for a 2?1 Angels victory.
[4]
Against the
Detroit Tigers
on August 20, Joyner broke up
Walt Terrell
's bid for a no-hitter by doubling with two out in the ninth; this would also be the Angels only hit in losing to the Tigers 3?0.
[5]
Joyner and the Angels advanced to the
1986 American League Championship Series
, where they came within one strike of reaching the franchise's first World Series. In game 3 of the series, Joyner was running home on an infield hit, and as he stepped on home plate, he unknowingly opened up a previously unseen
staph infection
on his shin, which led to him having to be hospitalized and miss the rest of the series.
At the end of the 1986 season, Joyner was the runner-up in the voting for the
Rookie of the Year
Award, losing to
Jose Canseco
.
[6]
On October 3, 1987, Joyner hit three solo home runs against the Indians in a 12-5 victory on the next to last day of the season. He finished the 1987 season with 34 home runs and 117 RBI, both career highs.
Post-Angels
[
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]
After six years with the Angels, Joyner signed with the
Kansas City Royals
as a free agent for the 1992 season. He played with the Royals for four years. After the 1995 season, Joyner was traded to the
San Diego Padres
for
Bip Roberts
. He played with the Padres for four years, and was the starting first baseman on the 1998
pennant-winning
team. After the 1999 season, Joyner was traded to the
Atlanta Braves
in a deal that also sent
Reggie Sanders
to the Braves and
Bret Boone
and
Ryan Klesko
to the Padres. He played with the Braves for one year before ending his career where it had begun, with the
Anaheim Angels
.
Joyner announced his retirement on June 16, 2001. In a taped message that was played on the
Edison Field
videoboard after the first inning that day, he thanked the Angels fans for their support and received a standing ovation.
[7]
In a 16 year career, Joyner posted a .289
batting average
with 204
home runs
and 1,106
RBI
in 2,033
games played
. Defensively, he was an excellent first baseman, recording a career .994
fielding percentage
. He led the
American League
in fielding percentage at first base in 1989 and 1995 and the
National League
in 1996 and 1997.
In a November 2005 interview with
ESPN The Magazine
, Joyner revealed that he had briefly used
steroids
. At age 36, as his career was beginning to decline, he asked Padres teammate
Ken Caminiti
how to obtain them and did so. He took three pills before deciding not to continue and flushed them down the toilet.
[8]
Joyner told
Buster Olney
that his reason for telling his story in public was to set the record straight for the sake of his daughters.
[9]
Joyner was listed in the 2007
Mitchell Report
.
Coaching
[
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]
On July 31, 2007, Joyner was hired by the
San Diego Padres
to be their hitting coach, replacing
Merv Rettenmund
.
[10]
Previously, Joyner had served as a special assistant to Padres General Manager
Kevin Towers
. Between 2003 and 2007, he also acted as a roving minor league instructor and
spring training
instructor for the Padres.
In September 2008, Joyner resigned as the hitting coach for the Padres due to a number of factors including the team's low rankings in batting categories and a difference in philosophy in regards to hitting with members of upper management (most notably, CEO
Sandy Alderson
). The resignation came as somewhat of a surprise due to Joyner's relationship with the GM/VP
Kevin Towers
. Their friendship goes all the way back to the early 1980s as college teammates for the
BYU Cougars
. Towers even traded for Joyner in late 1995, one of the first few transactions he made as the new GM for the
Padres
. In spite of this, Joyner was likely to be let go at the end of the year like Bench Coach
Craig Colbert
was on September 29, 2008, due to the same factors in his resignation.
On October 15, 2012, Joyner was hired by the
Philadelphia Phillies
as their assistant hitting coach to new hitting coach
Steve Henderson
.
[11]
Following the firing of
Charlie Manuel
, Joyner became the first base coach under interim manager,
Ryne Sandberg
.
[12]
On November 18, 2013, the
Detroit Tigers
announced the hiring of Joyner as their hitting coach. He was the team's hitting coach for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 seasons.
[13]
He resigned after the 2016 season to pursue other opportunities.
[14]
Personal life
[
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]
Joyner resides in
Mapleton, Utah
. Joyner has invested in and appeared in films marketed to members of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
, including playing "Brother Angel" (a reference to the
California Angels
) in
The Singles Ward
, and "Brother Jensen" in the 2003 movie,
The R.M.
.
[15]
[16]
He is the nephew of former
United States Senator
Paula Hawkins
.
[17]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Wally Joyner"
. Baseball Reference
. Retrieved
November 25,
2018
.
- ^
"Yabba—dabba—doo!"
.
CNN
. March 26, 1990.
- ^
Penner, Mike (August 27, 1986).
"Bronx Fears: Joyner Hit on Arm by Knife After 2-0 Angel Win"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
May 17,
2015
.
- ^
"Texas Rangers at California Angels Play by Play and Box Score"
. Baseball-Reference.com. June 16, 1986
. Retrieved
April 2,
2014
.
- ^
"Angels 0, Tigers 3"
. baseball-reference.com. August 20, 1986.
- ^
"1986 Awards Voting"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. Retrieved
August 13,
2023
.
- ^
Digiovanna, Mike (June 17, 2001).
"Joyner Enters the World of Retirement"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
January 23,
2009
.
- ^
"Special Report: Who Knew?"
.
ESPN The Magazine
. 2005
. Retrieved
January 23,
2009
.
- ^
Olney, Buster (January 23, 2009).
"McGwire's brother about as bad as it gets"
.
ESPN.com
. Retrieved
January 23,
2009
.
- ^
"Padres replace Rettenmund with Joyner"
. SignOnSanDiego.com. July 21, 2007
. Retrieved
August 1,
2007
.
- ^
Murphy, David (October 15, 2012).
"Wally Joyner joins Phillies coaching staff"
.
Philly.com
. Retrieved
October 15,
2012
.
- ^
Fagan, Ryan (August 17, 2013).
"Phillies manager Charlie Manuel out; Ryne Sandberg takes over"
.
Sporting News
. Retrieved
November 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Vizquel to be part of Tigers coaching staff"
.
MLB.com
. November 18, 2013.
- ^
Beck, Jason (October 8, 2016).
"Ausmus' staff returning except hitting coach Joyner"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
October 8,
2016
.
- ^
"The R.M. (2003)"
. Archived from
the original
on March 16, 2007.
- ^
Wally Joyner
at
IMDb
- ^
Murray, Jim (August 22, 1986).
"The World According to Wally"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
May 26,
2021
.
External links
[
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]