A native of East St. Louis, Illinois, Wallis attended McCluer High School and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In 1971 and 1972, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was selected by the Cubs in the sixth round of the 1973 MLB Draft.
On September 24, 1975, while playing for the Cubs, Wallis broke up Tom Seaver's bid for a no-hitter with two outs in the 9th inning of a game against the New York Mets. The Cubs went on to win the game in 11 innings.
On June 15, 1978, Wallis was traded twice on the same day. First, the Cubs traded him to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Mike Vail. Then the Indians sent him on to the Oakland Athletics for catcher/outfielder Gary Alexander. Wallis finished his major league career with Oakland the following season.

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