MINNEAPOLIS – When they returned to the clubhouse after Monday’s victory over the Twins at Target Field, Braves players all gave manager Brian Snitker hugs. They also presented him with a nice bottle of wine signed by all of them.
He had just managed the 4,000th game of his career between the minor leagues and major leagues – all in the Braves organization.
“I mean, it’s incredible,” Travis d’Arnaud said. “Over 40 years of donating his time to this game. … He’s been around, man.”
When he addressed reporters before the game, Snitker seemed surprised when told this would be his 4,000th game as a manager. “Oh man,” he said. “Yeah. Holy cow.” He tried to find the words about his career – one that has featured so much grit and determination.
“It goes back a long ways,” he said. “I don’t know. It’s just kind of mind-boggling that I’m sitting here at this point. A lot’s gone on over the course of the career and everything. That’s a lot of games.”
A ton.
To put the 4,000 games into some fun and non-exact context: If all those contests were nine innings, that would be 36,000 innings of baseball. If all were three hours, that would be 12,000 hours – or 500 days. And that only includes the games themselves, not the other hours spent at the ballpark. And we haven’t even included spring training, which is quite long, into this equation.
Snitker is beloved by his players and coaching staff. He’s respected around the game both for his journey and how he handles himself on a daily basis.
How far does his impact reach? Well, take this example from d’Arnaud: When the Braves hosted alumni weekend at Truist Park this past weekend, d’Arnaud noticed many of Snitker’s former players approaching him, embracing him and thanking him for helping their careers.
“A lot of the stuff he’s seen and helped us all with has been huge for all of us,” d’Arnaud said. “He’s been in the game so long that he’s probably seen some crazy, crazy stuff. It’s really special. That’s a very short list of people who’ve ever done that. All of us are thankful and honored to even have a chance to play for him.”
Credit: Four Seam Images
Credit: Four Seam Images
Before his 1,286 games managing the Braves – starting in 2016, when he was named the interim skipper – Snitker’s managerial journey included:
- 142 games in Anderson, South Carolina, in 1982
- 137 games in Durham, North Carolina, in 1983
- 140 games in Durham in 1984
- 137 games in Sumter, South Carolina, in 1986
- 140 games in Durham in 1987
- 139 games in Macon in 1992
- 66 games in Danville, Virginia, in 1996
- 140 games in Macon in 1997
- 141 games in Macon in 1998
- 139 games in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 1999
- 140 games in Myrtle Beach in 2000
- 138 games in Myrtle Beach in 2001
- 134 games in Greenville, South Carolina, in 2002
- 138 games in Greenville in 2003
- 139 games in Greenville in 2003
- 132 games in Mississippi in 2005
- 143 games in Richmond, Virginia, in 2006
- 142 games in Gwinnett in 2014
- 144 games in Gwinnett in 2015
- 143 games in Gwinnett and Atlanta in 2016
That list is long. Reading it is the only way to fully appreciate Snitker’s career, which has spanned over four decades, and admire his perseverance. He didn’t get to manage the big-league team until 34 years after his first managerial gig with the organization.
That should tell you how much he truly loves this.
Most of his career was not spent on comfortable planes and in fancy hotels. He has earned the right to experience them now.
Along the road to his most recent milestone, he learned from his mentors, like Hall of Famer Bobby Cox. He closely watched Cox.
What lesson would the Snitker of now give his younger self?
“To calm down, probably,” he said. “Back when I had hair, I was a lot more volatile than I am now. I’ve got more patience. And I think that comes with age and experience. Learned a lot sitting beside Bobby (Cox) for all those years. Probably not be so reactive, maybe, as when I was younger. But that’s part of it. You got a little more piss and vinegar in you when you’re younger. Probably that – the patience. I’ve become more patient than I was when I was younger.”
Credit: undefined
Credit: undefined
Recently, Angels manager Ron Washington – who worked as Snitker’s third base coach in Atlanta – told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he’s never known a man as patient as Snitker. Much of this, Snitker said, has come with all the years in the game.
“Well, and I think a lot of that comes from experience and dealing with people and understanding how tough this game is,” Snitker said. “And you watch other guys, how they go about things. I watched Bobby and how patient he was with everybody – coaches, players, his realistic look on everything. But that’s probably more of, I think, an experience-type thing that you learn over the years.”
Snitker’s players all praise his calm demeanor. He doesn’t panic. He’s consistent – a word president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos used to describe him in June. Snitker handles the tough times with grace.
The word players often use: Even-keeled.
“He’s never too high, never too low,” Max Fried said. “He’s very real. When you’ve managed 4,000 games professionally, you know that one day doesn’t make a season. Just having that steady, steady demeanor that he has, it’s crucial for a long season.”
“It always starts at the top, and Snit always sets the tone,” Matt Olson said. “We’ve kind of had our good bit of ups and downs, and injuries and things, and he’s showing up as the same guy every day, so it makes it easy for us to show up and do the same. Big accomplishment. Not a lot of people are in the game that long, so really cool for him. We’re just all glad we could be a part of it.”
Following the 2018 season, Snitker was named National League Manager of the Year for guiding the Braves out of their rebuild and into the postseason. That season began a run of six consecutive division titles – a stretch that has also included a World Series. (“Just sitting there thinking, right before that, ‘Oh my God, this is gonna happen’ and then it did,” Snitker said of that World Series, which is his favorite memory. “That’s something I’ll never forget and I’ll always have fond memories of.”)
If the Braves make the postseason this year, Snitker would have a terrific case for Manager of the Year. He hasn’t had Spencer Strider since early April and Ronald Acuña Jr. since late May. He was without Michael Harris II for two months and Sean Murphy for two months. He’s been without Ozzie Albies for a month. Now, he doesn’t have Austin Riley. And A.J. Minter won’t throw another pitch for him this season.
And Snitker has the Braves at 71-60 and in the third NL wild-card spot after Monday’s win.
This is about the best job he could’ve done.
“Yes, very much so,” d’Arnaud. “Especially with the way the year’s gone with all the injuries, he’s stayed even-keel and made sure he’s steered the ship in the right direction. I mean, it’s almost like he’s been there before and has seen it before. Thankfully for us, we have him leading our ship and none of us would want anybody else leading the ship.”
The season is a daily grind. As Snitker says, it’s never easy.
Especially this one.
But Monday offered an opportunity to reflect on another feat in an accomplished career.
“I’m proud that I’ve been blessed to be with a great organization for this whole time and to have managed a lot of great players, worked with a lot of really great coaches that became close friends, as well as the players,” Snitker said. “It’s a lot of really good memories. It’s a lot of really good memories.”
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