Wally Joyner

Infobox MLB retired
name=Wally Joyner
position=First baseman
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1962|6|16
Atlanta, Georgia
debutdate=April 8
debutyear=by|1986
debutteam=California Angels
finaldate=June 14
finalyear=by|2001
finalteam=Anaheim Angels
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.289
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=204
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=1,106
teams=
* California Angels (by|1986-by|1991)
* Kansas City Royals (by|1991-by|1995)
* San Diego Padres (by|1996-by|1999)
* Atlanta Braves (by|2000)
* Anaheim Angels (by|2001)
highlights=
* All-Star selection (1986)
* 1986 Home Run Derby co-winner

Wallace Keith "Wally" Joyner (born June 16 1962 in Atlanta, Georgia) is the hitting coach for the San Diego Padres professional baseball club. He is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball. He attended high school at Redan High in Stone Mountain (suburb of Atlanta) and college at Brigham Young University and played for four different major league teams in his career: the California Angels (and later with the Anaheim Angels), Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, and Atlanta Braves. He now resides in Mapleton, Utah. Joyner has invested and appeared in [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0431669/ movies] marketed to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon church), including playing "Brother Jensen" in the 2003 movie, "The R.M." [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808464571/cast]

Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League

He credited a stint in the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League [1st baseman for the Mayagüez Indians] as fundamental in his improvement as a sluggerFact|date=June 2007. Then-batting coach José Manuel Morales forced him to do power weight training and modify his posture at the batting cage as to develop upper body strength. He was consequently the top hitter on Puerto Rico's winter league on the by|1985-by|1986|86 season.

California Angels

During his rookie season in MLB with the California Angels, Joyner became a fan favorite and briefly inspired a craze called "Wallyworld", a term describing the Angels' home stadium, drawn from references to Disneyland and the film "National Lampoon's Vacation".Fact|date=August 2008 Competing with the likes of José Canseco, Joyner became the first rookie starter to be fan-voted in the 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 by|1986, a fan threw a knife at Joyner. Joyner was grazed on the left arm by the butt end of the weapon, escaping injury. Said Joyner: "I picked it up and gave it to [Angels' manager] Gene Mauch."Fact|date=August 2008

teroid use

In a November by|2005 interview with "ESPN The Magazine", Joyner admitted to briefly having used steroids. He was given information on how to obtain them by Ken Caminiti while they were both with the by|1998 Padres [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=steroids&num=7] .

Joyner was listed in the 2007 Mitchell Report (baseball), which was released to the public on December 13, 2007. However, he had already admitted to using steroids once during his career and according to the Mitchell Report his use was very minimal.Fact|date=August 2008

an Diego Padres

On July 31, by|2007, Joyner was hired by the San Diego Padres to be their hitting coach, replacing Merv Rettenmund. [http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20070731-1432-joyner.html] Previously, Joyner had served as a special assistant to Padres' General Manager Kevin Towers. Between by|2003 and 2007, he also acted as a roving minor league instructor and spring training instructor for the Padres.

In September of 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 some what of a surprise due to Joyner's relationship with the GM/VP Kevin Towers. Their friendship goes all the way back to the early '80s 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 the same factors in his resignation.

ee also

* Top 500 home run hitters of all time
* List of major league players with 2,000 hits
* List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
* List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
* Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game

External links

*
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/J/Joyner_Wally.stm BaseballLibrary] - biography and career highlights
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2217361 Joyner admits brief steroid use]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/09/19/fan_violence/ Joyner and the fan]