Brian Snitker’s wayfaring journey to baseball’s penthouse

He joined the organization in 1977. Over five years, he went from minor-league catcher/first baseman to roving instructor (as hired by farm director Hank Aaron) to minor-league manager. Brian Snitker was given his first ballclub – the Anderson Braves of the Sally League – in 1982. He was 26. At that moment, and only at that moment, he might have believed he was on a fast track.

Thirty-three years passed. He remained a Braves’ employee, though he wouldn’t hold the same job for long. He worked in the majors as bullpen coach under Eddie Haas, who didn’t last a season, and Russ Nixon, who lasted 25 months. He was third-base coach under Bobby Cox and Fredi Gonzalez. The rest of the time, he rode a bus.

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The list of minor-league cities in which Snitker managed is a trip you’d plot only to see the real South. Anderson to Durham to Sumter in the Carolinas. Back to Durham, where he managed Kevin Brown – though not Kevin Brown the pitcher and not Kevin Costner, either. Then Macon. Then Danville. Back to Macon. Myrtle Beach to Greenville to Jackson, Mississippi. Then Richmond. Finally: Lawrenceville, where the Gwinnett affiliate wasn’t yet named the Stripers.

Players managed: Zane Smith; Paul Assenmacher; Andres Thomas; Tommy Greene; David Justice; Steve Avery; Mark Lemke; Kent Mercker; Brad Clontz; Bruce Chen; Marcus Giles; Jason Marquis; Rafael Furcal; Nick Green; Wilson Betemit; Adam LaRoche; George Lombard; Kelly Johnson; Adam Wainwright; Paul Byrd; Jeff Francoeur; Peter Moylan; Christian Bethancourt; Mike Foltynewicz; Hector Olivera; Matt Wisler.

Totals: 1,116 games at Low-A; 572 at Triple-A; 543 at Double-A; 417 at High-A; 66 at rookie ball.

People who worked for the Braves came to know Snitker well. We on the periphery had little reason to notice. His closest brush with fame came in a moment of infamy. He was coaching third when Turner Field patrons cast debris after an expansive invocation of the infield-fly rule in MLB’s first wild-card game. “I was standing by Danny Uggla,” Snitker said. “He had a helmet. I didn’t. I said, ‘I’m getting out of here.’”

The manager of more than a thousand games outside the majors was handed his first big-league roster May 17, 2016. Succeeding Gonzalez, Snitker inherited a rebuilding team that was 9-28. His instructions were to lose less often.

He was 60. He’d waited all his life for the moment, and his starting pitcher was Aaron Blair. Snitker made his first MLB pitching change with one out in the second inning, his team trailing 8-0. Welcome to the bigs.

Seven years later, the man who never went away is still around. Two managers in franchise annals – dating to 1876, when the club began as the Boston Red Stockings – have worked more than his eight seasons. Both are in the Hall of Fame. Cox is one. The other is Frank Selee, who last oversaw a game in 1901. Only those two have won more than Snitker, who moved past George Stallings into third place with Thursday’s epic victory.

Stallings led the Boston Braves more than 100 years ago. Snitker presides over the second extended run of Atlanta-based excellence. The first, achieved under Cox, included 14 division titles. Snitker’s still-maturing crew is almost halfway there. The Mets and Phillies keep gearing up. His Braves keep finishing first.

On Sunday, Snitker benched Marcell Ozuna for standing at home plate to admire a 415-foot single. Come Tuesday, he was back in the lineup. He had three RBIs in the Mets series. Not long ago, Snitker was assailed by the noisy segment of Braves Country for sticking with reliever A.J. Minter despite substandard results. Minter’s past six outings have seen him yield no runs and no hits. Faith can move mountains.

“This game is hard,” Snitker said this week. “I tell the players I know it’s hard.”

He didn’t play in the majors – he topped out at Triple-A Richmond in 1978 – but he knows MLB players. His team has won five division titles in succession. The least of those teams won the World Series. He was the National League’s manager of the year in 2018. He has finished among the top four in the voting each year since.

It took him forever to get this job. Turns out he’s good at it. He’s a baseball lifer, and what a life.