Why the Braves should retire Brian Snitker’s jersey number

It is difficult to envision the Braves having the fortune of having someone quite like Brian Snitker ever again in their organization.

And that’s why, upon his retirement after 10 seasons as manager and 49 seasons with the franchise, they should pay him their ultimate honor and retire the No. 43 jersey he wore with distinction.

No less an authority than Baseball Hall of Famer and Braves legend Chipper Jones supports the idea.

“Would be a nice gesture for Snit,” Jones wrote in a text message to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday. “(The) man has dedicated his life to the Braves!”

Induction into the team’s Hall of Fame, which will happen early next season, is a no-brainer. But the franchise’s ultimate honor is merited, too.

It would be unconventional, as it is highly select company. Of the 11 Braves legends who have been accorded jersey-number retirement, nine also are in the Baseball Hall of Fame — Hank Aaron, Bobby Cox, Tom Glavine, Jones, Greg Maddux, Eddie Mathews, Phil Niekro, John Smoltz and Warren Spahn. Only Dale Murphy and Andruw Jones are not enshrined in Cooperstown (though they should be).

And if Snitker had joined the Braves organization in 2016 — when he was called up from managing at Triple-A Gwinnett to become interim manager after the firing of Fredi Gonzalez — then such an honor wouldn’t make sense despite a hard-to-match resume.

He led the Braves to six consecutive National League East titles, seven consecutive postseason berths and the unforgettable 2021 World Series title.

Snitker finishes with a record of 811-665, a winning percentage of .549. Of any manager whose career began in the past 50 years and who managed at least 800 games, Snitker’s winning percentage ranks fifth, behind Dave Roberts, Davey Johnson, Aaron Boone and Snitker’s mentor Cox.

But that isn’t when he started his career, and that’s why the honor is fitting. He has been a part of the organization since 1977, first as a minor-league player and then a minor-league coach, then was tapped by Aaron to run the Anderson (S.C.) Braves for the 1982 season. Snitker managed and coached a number of Braves minor-league teams and was at different points the Braves bullpen coach and third base coach.

Snitker gave his entire professional career to the Braves organization, and the vast majority of it was at the minor-league level, where he was not living a life of comfortable salaries and luxury hotel rooms on the road.

“I look back on those days when Ronnie (his wife) and I, we’d go into a town (for a new managerial assignment) and she’d go to the consignment store and buy bunk beds for the kids and we’d sleep on a mattress at the base of it,” he said at a news conference Wednesday. “Balancing your checkbook to go to Kroger. And you know what? It was the greatest time ever because you work with the kids and the players, and Hank (Aaron) allowed you to do that, and (I) said, ‘Don’t worry about it — I’m going to give you a better product back when the year’s over.’ It was fun.”

In short, Snitker and his family chose a life of lesser means to allow him to pursue his passion: developing and preparing hundreds of players with the hopes that they could help the Braves win at the major league level. For decades before he ever managed a single game at Truist Park, the franchise benefited from Snitker’s loyalty and excellence in a way that is difficulty to quantify.

He has been the thread that has connected the late Aaron and the legendary Cox with the present-day organization.

Said Snitker, “I was blessed to be raised by Hall of Famers and people that did it right.”

And add to that he delivered Atlanta only its second World Series title and did so with a style that recalled Cox.

“I always respect a guy who shows up and is the same guy every day,” first baseman Matt Olson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week. “You don’t want a manager who’s riding the highs and the lows of the emotional roller coaster. We play too many games for that, for it to be beneficial, I believe.”

Relief pitcher Pierce Johnson called Snitker a manager who cared about his players as people as much as talent.

“He’s always asking how my family’s doing, always cares for them,” Johnson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “His wife is the same way. He puts family first. When someone respects you on not just a professional level but a human level, too, it really means a lot. I really feel like you get a lot out of your players when you do that.”

Johnson’s wife, Kristina, broke her ankle last year during the season. He didn’t make any mention of it to the coaching staff, he said, but Ronnie Snitker saw his wife and evidently got word to her husband.

“And he texts me and was like, ‘Hey, man, you show up to the field whenever you need to and just be ready for the game,’” Johnson said. “’But don’t worry about being late or anything. I know you’ve got little kids, so help your wife in any way shape or form if we can accommodate in any way, please let us know.’”

Johnson, whose professional career began in 2012, said he was speechless.