Longtimer Snitker took lessons from his mentor
66-year-old delivers second title to Atlanta
Brian Snitker borrowed plenty from Bobby Cox learning to lead a clubhouse.
Now, he’s matched his mentor in chasing down the game’s greatest prize, joining Cox as the only Atlanta Braves managers to win the World Series.
The championship clinched with Tuesday night’s 7-0 Game 6 win over the Houston Astros was the payoff on Snitker’s investment of 44 years as a Braves lifer. After a long career as player, instructor, coach and
manager in the Braves’ organization, the 66-year-old Snitker has earned his place in team history.
“Brian Snitker is an amazing human being,” star slugger Freddie Freeman said. “And it’s absolutely amazing that we get to call him a world champion now for everything he’s done for this organization.”
Snitker, a former Braves minor leaguer catcher and first baseman, was given his opportunity to start a new career as a coach by Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, the team’s farm director. Aaron died at the age of 86 on Jan. 22, and Snitker became emotional during the World Series when he spoke of talking with Aaron’s widow, Billye.
Snitker’s patience in his long path to becoming Atlanta’s manager was tested in 2013. After serving as Atlanta’s third base coach from 2007 to 2013, he was sent back to the minors as Triple-a Gwinnett’s manager. He had already served 15 seasons as the manager of almost every Braves minor league team, so he was being asked to retrace his steps.
It didn’t seem like a path that would lead him to a big league manager role. When Atlanta fired manager Fredi González during the 2016 season, Snitker wasn’t expecting a call.
“I thought it was probably off the table when I left that time in that last recycle like that,” Snitker said last week.
Cox, who managed the Braves from 1990-2010 and won a title in 1995, instilled lessons in Snitker that helped him make the most of the opportunity as interim manager in 2016 and then being named to the fulltime position. His collection of four NL East division titles, and now the World Series championship, are more than he dared to dream of in 2016. He’s the second oldest manager to win a title, after 72-year-old Jack Mckeon with Miami in 2003.
“I couldn’t imagine how great this has been and what’s transpired since that time, because I wasn’t looking for that,” Snitker said. “I wasn’t expecting it. When I got the call, that’s not what I was expecting to hear. I’ve been blessed to be able to be in this position.”