- J. T. Snow
Infobox MLB retired
name=J. T. Snow
|width=225
position=First baseman
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1968|2|26
city-state|Long Beach|California
debutdate=September 20
debutyear=by|1992
debutteam=New York Yankees
finaldate=September 27
finalyear=by|2008
finalteam=San Francisco Giants
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.268
stat2label=Home run s
stat2value=189
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=877
teams=
*New York Yankees (by|1992)
* California Angels (by|1993-by|1996)
*San Francisco Giants (by|1997-by|2005)
*Boston Red Sox (by|2006)
*San Francisco Giants (by|2008)
highlights=
* 6xGold Glove Award winner (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)Jack Thomas "J. T." Snow, Jr. (born
February 26 ,1968 in city-state|Long Beach|California) is a formerMajor League Baseball player. He played all but two games in his career as afirst baseman , and played nine of his 13½ seasons with theSan Francisco Giants . He was known for his exceptional defense.Early years
Snow is the son of former NFL Los Angeles Rams
Pro Bowl wide receiver Jack Snow.Snow attended
Los Alamitos High School in city-state|Los Alamitos|California and playedbaseball and football with future teammateRobb Nen . After high school, Snow played three seasons at theUniversity of Arizona . He was drafted by theNew York Yankees in the fifth round of the by|1989 baseball amateur draft. Snow broke into the Majors with the Yankees at the end of the mlby|1992 season.After his father's death in 2006, Snow wore his father's number 84 in his honor. Snow is married and resides in the
San Francisco Bay Area year-round.California Angels (1993-96)
Traded to the California Angels that year as part of the
Jim Abbott deal, Snow played for them from mlby|1993 to mlby|1996.an Francisco Giants (1997-2005)
He was traded to the Giants after the 1996 season for
left-handed pitcher Allen Watson and minor league pitcher Fausto Macey.While a
switch-hitter earlier in his career, Snow batted exclusively left-handed after mlby|1998. In mlby|2000 he led the league in sacrifice flies with 14. After a two year injury-riddled stretch from mlby|2002-mlby|2003 where hisbatting average was .246, Snow rebounded in mlby|2004 with a .327 average, hitting .387 after the All-Star break (which ranked second only toIchiro Suzuki in the Major Leagues).He used "Won't Get Fooled Again" by
The Who as his intro music for hisat-bat s. He also used "Right Now" byVan Halen for a time.Two memorable moments with the Giants
In the
2002 World Series as Snow was scoring in Game 5 off aKenny Lofton triple, he swooped up by the back of the jacket and carried off thebatboy , 3-year-old Darren Baker. The young batboy and son of then Giants’ managerDusty Baker was athome plate to collect Lofton's bat before the play was completed. This turned into a touching and memorable incident, but easily could have resulted in disaster with a small child wandering into the path of Snow and David Bell as they both barreled home to score. Following the incident with Darren Baker, Major League Baseball required batboys and girls to be at least 14 years of age.In the
2000 National League Division Series against theNew York Mets , with the Giants trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Snow hit a three-run pinch-hit homer against Mets relieverArmando Benitez . However, the Giants failed to capitalize on their momentum, eventually falling in the 10th inning and going on to lose the series. The Giants' loss of the game and series ultimately robbed Snow's dramatic feat of much of its lustre.Boston Red Sox (2006)
Snow's tenure with the Giants effectively ended when the team declined to offer him salary arbitration before the mlby|2006 season. He signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the
Boston Red Sox onJanuary 6 , 2006. He served primarily in a platoon withKevin Youkilis at first base until he requested to bedesignated for assignment due to a lack of playing time. He was granted his designationJune 19 , and was officially released eight days later.Retirement
At the end of the 2006 season, Snow retired from baseball and began doing radio broadcasts with the San Francisco Giants in the mlby|2007 season. He also serves as an advisor to the Giants'
general manager ,Brian Sabean , and as a roving minor league instructor for the Giants.When he returned for a visit to
AT&T Park at the end of the 2006 season, Snow received a standing ovation when he was featured on theJumbotron .On
September 24 , mlby|2008, the Giants signed Snow to a one-day contract, and he took the field onSeptember 27 against the Dodgers, but was replaced before the first pitch. It was a move that allowed Snow to retire as a Giant.Eugenio Vélez ,Omar Vizquel , andRich Aurilia threw balls in the dirt to mess with Snow, but Snow still made the plays. [http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_10550760?nclick_check=1]alary
ee also
*
Top 500 home run hitters of all time
*Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game References
External links
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