Wally Joyner keynotes fifth annual First Pitch Dinner & Auction

All-Star slugger Wally Joyner will be the keynote speaker at BYU baseball’s fifth-annual “First Pitch” Fundraising Dinner/Auction on Jan. 26 at the NuSkin Ballroom in Provo.

The event starts at 6 p.m. MST, with the silent auction and photos followed by a dinner and program including a presentation of the Cameron Tuckett Award by former BYU Coach Glen Tuckett and an address by Joyner. The Cameron Tuckett Award is given annually to the player who demonstrates consistent effort in academics, citizenship and baseball from the past season.

The First Pitch Dinner will also feature a silent auction and a few live auction items like memorabilia from the MLB, NFL, NBA and former Cougar greats.

Joyner played 16 years in the Major Leagues with the California and Anaheim Angles (1986-91, 2001), Kansas City Royals (1992-95), San Diego Padres (1996-1999) and the Atlanta Braves (2000). He played in over 2,000 games in the MLB with a career batting average of .289. He batted over .300 in 1991, 1994, 1995 and 1997 and belted 34 home runs in 1987 and 22 homers in 1986 when he started in the All-Star game as a rookie first baseman.

Joyner served as hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers from 2014-2016. He also served as a hitting coach and special assistant with the San Diego Padres and as hitting coach and first base coach with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Joyner was an All-American at BYU, starring for the Cougars from 1981-83. The Georgia native was drafted in the third round by the Angels after leading the Western Athletic Conference in hitting, breaking eight school records and setting 11 WAC records.

Keynote speakers the past three years, respectively, were Dale Murphy, five-time Gold Glove Award winning outfielder primarily with the Atlanta Braves; Jeff Kent, an infielder primarily with the San Francisco Giants; Jeremy Guthrie, a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals; and Jack Morris, former World Series MVP with the Detroit Tigers. The emcee for the event is BYUtv play-by-play announcer and KSL TV news anchor Dave McCann.

Those interested in attending the ticketed event should RSVP with Janalee Davis, 801-422-5263 (janalee_davis@byu.edu), Mike Littlewood, 801-422-5049 (mike_littlewood@byu.edu) or make a payment through this link for the First Pitch Dinner.