Brian Snitker retiring as Braves manager after 49 years in organization
Brian Snitker’s storied Braves coaching career has concluded.
The 2021 World Series winner, who’s spent 49 years with the organization, is retiring, the team announced Wednesday morning. Snitker, 69, has overseen the team’s managerial duties since taking over as the interim manager in May 2016.
He’s remaining with the organization in an advisory role. Snitker also will be inducted in the Braves Hall of Fame next year.
Snitker assembled a managerial tenure that made his friend and mentor, Braves legend Bobby Cox, proud. He went 811-668 (.548) as a big-league manager, a position he doubted he would ever experience after decades as a minor-league coach and position coach.
Snitker oversaw seven consecutive postseason appearances from 2018-24, including six consecutive division titles. He and Cox are the only Atlanta-era Braves managers to win a World Series.
The Braves will be hiring only their fourth manager since Cox resumed the post in 1990. He managed the team until 2010 before Fredi Gonzalez held the position until his midseason dismissal, which led to Snitker’s first opportunity as a major-league manager.
The 2021 title was one of the unlikeliest in history, a testament to Snitker’s leadership as he guided the team through myriad injuries and underperformance — ultimately resulting in an 88-win club reaching immortality.
The 2025 season long was assumed to be Snitker’s last. He had indicated in recent weeks he could be interested in returning for a 50th season, one he hoped would yield better health luck for the team than what occurred over the past two campaigns, but that ultimately won’t be the case.
A beloved players’ manager, Snitker’s Braves teams were known for their resiliency and fight. The injury-riddled 2024 team still qualified for the postseason. This year’s ailments proved too much to overcome, but Snitker’s players continued treating the season as if it involved a pennant race. The Braves won 10 consecutive games in the closing two weeks.
Snitker is an all-time baseball story, one that defines perseverance and dedication to one sport and one organization.
Snitker joined the Braves in 1977 as a minor-league catcher. He played for four seasons, showing he likely wasn’t going to progress. But Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, then a Braves executive, saw Snitker as a potential coach. “He just released me and offered me a coaching job,” Snitker said in reflection a few years ago.
Snitker managed a conglomerate of minor-league affiliations over the years, including Richmond, Mississippi, Durham and Macon. He was the Braves’ third base coach from 2007-13 under Cox and Gonzalez. He started managing Triple-A Gwinnett in 2013 before he was chosen as Gonzalez’s replacement.
Snitker’s wife, Ronnie, has been an integral support system for him throughout the years. They have two children, Erin and Troy. Troy has been a hitting coach with the Astros since 2019, losing to his father’s Braves in the 2021 World Series but winning the championship a year later.
About the Author
Gabriel Burns is a general assignment reporter and features writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After four years on the Braves beat, he's expanded his horizons and covers all sports. You'll find him writing about MLB, NFL, NBA, college football and other Atlanta-centric happenings.
