For the first time since 2017, there are currently three former BYU baseball players actively competing in Major League Baseball: Daniel Schneemann (Cleveland Guardians), Justin Sterner (Athletics) and Michael Rucker (Seattle Mariners).
In addition to Schneemann, Sterner and Rucker, 24 other former Cougars have appeared in the big leagues since Ken Hunt debuted with the Cincinnati Reds in 1961.
BYU’s MLB exports have gone on to earn 10 collective All-Star nods, win a handful of World Series rings and even find a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Here’s a look back at the best BYU products to go from Provo to “The Show.”
Jack Morris
Years at BYU: 1975-76
Years in MLB: 1977-94
BYU’s lone Hall of Famer, Morris went 254-186 between 1977-94 with a 3.90 earned run average and 2,478 strikeouts.
He was baseball’s winningest pitcher of the 1980s, received Cy Young Award votes in seven seasons, MVP votes in five, made five All-Star teams and won the World Series with three different clubs.
“Intense competitor with a spirited drive and determination who propelled his teams as staff ace,” reads Morris’ Hall of Fame plaque.
But most importantly, Morris became a postseason hero with arguably the most clutch pitching performance in baseball history, tossing 10 innings of shutout ball in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series to outduel fellow Hall of Famer John Smoltz and carry his hometown Minnesota Twins to the title over the Atlanta Braves.
Along with his Game 7 heroics, Morris went 4-0 in the 1991 playoffs to earn World Series MVP honors. He also won two games for the Detroit Tigers in their 1984 World Series victory and was part of the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays championship squad as well.
The first 14 years of Morris’ career were spent in Detroit, where his 1,988 wins rank fifth in team history.
At BYU, Morris posted a 10-9 record with an ERA just under 5.00.
“I learned the values of what BYU is all about,” Morris said in 2018. “And to this day I want you to know how proud I am to say I went to school here.”
Morris was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 and the BYU Hall of Fame in 2025.
Wally Joyner
Years at BYU: 1981-83
Years in MLB: 1986-2001
Joyner stands as the most productive batter from BYU, batting .289 across 16 seasons with 2,060 hits, 204 home runs, 409 doubles, 1,106 RBI and a .362 on-base percentage, even recording more walks (833) than strikeouts (825).
He burst on the scene as a rookie in 1986, winning the Home Run Derby, knocking 52 extra-base hits, finishing eighth in MVP voting and leading the California Angels to the American League West division title.
In his first two years at the MLB level, Joyner hit 56 home runs with 217 RBI while logging 7.3 wins above replacement.
Joyner played six years with the Angels, four with the Kansas City Royals, one with the Braves and four with the San Diego Padres, where he was a veteran leader for the 1998 National League pennant-winning squad.
Joyner recorded a career OPS+ mark of 117, meaning he was 17% better than league average at the plate over the course of his career.
Since retiring, he served as hitting coach for three different MLB clubs.
Rick Aguilera
Years at BYU: 1981-83
Years in MLB: 1985-2000
A three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Aguilera pitched in 732 games as both a starter and reliever, going 86-81 with a 3.57 ERA, 318 saves and more than 1,000 strikeouts.
Aguilera spent 11 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, primarily serving as their closer to save 254 games and earn a spot in the team’s Hall of Fame. Along with fellow BYU alum Morris, he won the 1991 World Series with the Twins.
Prior to arriving in Minnesota, Aguilera was a fan favorite for the New York Mets, where he won 37 games in five seasons and earned a World Series ring in 1986.
Aguilera’s 318 saves place him No. 24 on the all-time leaderboard, having ranked ninth at the time of his retirement.
Cory Snyder
Years at BYU: 1982-84
Years in MLB: 1986-94
You won’t find a more accomplished college player on this list than Cory Snyder.
By the time he left BYU as the No. 4 overall pick in the 1984 draft, Snyder was college baseball’s all-time career leader in slugging percentage (0.844) and ranked second in home runs (73).
He began his collegiate career by hitting home runs on each of the first three pitches he saw. In his final campaign with the program, he batted .450 with 27 longballs and 85 RBI to become BYU’s first — and only — first round draft pick.
Snyder slugged 149 home runs during his nine years in MLB, including 33 blasts as a 24-year-old in 1987.
115 of his homers came as a member of the Cleveland Indians, where he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated alongside teammate Joe Carter.
Jeremy Guthrie
Years at BYU: 1998
Years in MLB: 2004-15, 2017
After pitching to a 6.54 ERA as a freshman at BYU, Guthrie went on a two-year Latter-day Saint mission and transferred to Stanford upon his return, where he blossomed into a first round draft selection by the Cleveland Indians in 2002.
Guthrie made 273 big league starts with a 91-109 lifetime record, 4.42 ERA and 1,046 strikeouts. He spent five seasons as the Baltimore Orioles’ ace, winning 47 games and still ranking as the team’s No. 10 pitcher all-time in terms of wins above replacement.
In four years with the Kansas City Royals, Guthrie made two trips to the World Series, starting Game 7 of the 2014 fall classic and winning a ring in 2015.
Since retiring, Guthrie served as a mission president in Texas from 2018-21, broadcasts a number of Royals games each season and can be spotted on occasion a various BYU sporting events.
Vance Law
Years at BYU: 1975-78
Years in MLB: 1980-89, 1991
The son of former Cy Young Award winner Vern Law, Vance Law played in 1,212 MLB games across 11 seasons, the bulk of which came with the Chicago White Sox and Montreal Expos.
Law batted .256 for his career with 71 home runs, 193 doubles and 442 runs batted in, hitting 10 or more homers four different times and driving in at least 50 runs on five occasions.
In 1983, he helped the White Sox make their first postseason appearance in 25 years, and he was named to the National League All-Star team in 1988 as a member of the Chicago Cubs.
Law returned to BYU in 2000 to serve as the school’s head baseball coach, winning 397 games in 13 seasons and winning a pair of Mountain West Conference championships.
Dane Iorg
Years at BYU: 1969-71
Years in MLB: 1977-86
A lifetime utility specialist who never appeared in more than 105 games in a season, Iorg always turned into a monster during the playoffs.
Iorg went 12 for 23 (.522 batting average) across four postseason series, winning championships with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982 and the Kansas City Royals in 1985.
In the ‘82 World Series, Iorg logged nine hits in five games, including four doubles and triple. In ‘85, his walk-off single won Game 6 for the Royals and forced a decisive Game 7.
Iorg played parts of eight years in St. Louis and had other more brief stops in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and San Diego. He appeared in 743 games, hitting 14 home runs, driving in 216 runs and batting .276 for his career.
Brian Banks
Years at BYU: 1990, 1993
Years in MLB: 1996-99, 2002-03
A second round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers, Banks played in 273 games across six seasons, batting .246 with 13 home runs, 64 RBI and closing his career with a 2003 World Series win as a member of the Florida Marlins.
Other players with BYU connections
Dale Murphy
Though he never donned a BYU uniform, Murphy took classes from the university during the offseason and even met his wife on campus.
One of the most popular and beloved players of his era, Murphy won consecutive MVP awards in 1982 and 1983 while playing for the Braves, becoming one of just 14 players to ever accomplish such a feat.
Murphy’s career accomplishments include 398 home runs, 2,111 hits, 1,266 RBI, seven All-Star games, five Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers and even the coveted Roberto Clemente Award for excellence in community service and outreach.
Despite his dominant peak and lasting legacy, Murphy has yet to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, with many fans and analysts believing his omission to be among the Hall’s most egregious.
Kevin Towers
A BYU pitcher in 1982 and teammate of Joyner, Snyder and Aguilera, Towers spent two decades as general manager of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Towers’ teams won five collective division titles, with the Padres capturing the National League pennant in 1998 — just the second in franchise history.
Towers died in 2018 and was posthumously inducted in the Padres Hall of Fame.
Danny Ainge
Before he was winning championships with the Boston Celtics or helping run the Utah Jazz, Ainge was playing baseball north of the border.
While starring for BYU’s basketball team, Ainge also had the unique summer job of playing for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1979-81, where he played six different defensive positions.
In 211 games, Ainge batted .220 with 146 hits, two home runs, 19 doubles, 37 RBI and 12 stolen bases.
Ainge was just the 12th man to ever play in both the NBA and MLB, with only one other player (Mark Hendrickson) having done so since Ainge.
BYU-Idaho’s baseball heritage
Prior to becoming BYU-Idaho in 2001, Ricks College had a strong junior college baseball program, with three Vikings products reaching the MLB ranks.
Matt Lindstrom is Ricks’ most accomplished alumnus, having made 469 relief appearances between 2007-14 with a 17-21 record, 3.68 lifetime ERA and 51 saves.
In 2012, Lindstrom was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Guthrie, marking the only time two Latter-day Saint returned missionaries were exchanged in an MLB trade.
Garrett Stephenson pitched for seven MLB seasons out of Ricks — primarily with the St. Louis Cardinals — and went 39-39 in 104 starts with a 4.55 ERA, winning 16 games and striking out 123 batters in 2000.
While only appearing in 14 games during the 2007 season, former Ricks standout and sixth round draft selection Troy Cate pitched to a 3.38 ERA with 12 strikeouts for the Cardinals, ranking 33% above the league’s average pitcher.
