Draft and minor leagues The
New York Yankees selected Snow in the fifth round of the
1989 Major League Baseball draft.
California Angels (1993–1996) After the 1992 season, the Yankees traded Snow,
Jerry Nielsen, and
Russ Springer to the
California Angels for
Jim Abbott. Snow played for the Angels from 1993 to 1996, where he won two
Gold Glove Awards.
San Francisco Giants (1997–2005) Snow 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 1998. In 2000, he led the league in
sacrifice flies with 14. After a two-year injury-riddled stretch from 2002 to 2003 when his
batting average was .246, Snow rebounded in 2004 with a .327 average, hitting .387 after the
All-Star break (which ranked second only to
Ichiro Suzuki in the Major Leagues). On June 26, 1999, Snow tagged out
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher
Carlos Pérez using the "
hidden ball trick", the last successful execution of the play in the 20th century. In the
2000 National League Division Series against the
New York Mets, with the Giants trailing 4–1 in the bottom of the ninth, Snow hit a three-run
pinch-hit homer against Mets
reliever Armando Benítez. However, the Giants failed to capitalize on their momentum, eventually falling in the 10th inning and going on to lose the series. In the
2002 World Series, Snow was scoring a run in Game 5 off a
Kenny Lofton triple and lifted 3-year-old
Darren Baker, the Giants' batboy and son of then Giants’ manager
Dusty Baker, by the jacket as he was crossing
home plate. Darren had run out 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. A photograph of this incident now hangs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, New York. In the
2003 National League Division Series against the
Florida Marlins, with the Giants trailing 7–6 in Game 4 in the ninth inning, he attempted to score from second base on a single to left field, but
Jeff Conine's throw to the plate came in time as catcher
Iván Rodríguez tagged Snow at the plate as Snow barreled into him, ending the game and the series. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first postseason series to end with the potential tying run thrown out at the plate.
Boston Red Sox (2006) Snow's tenure with the Giants effectively ended when the team declined to offer him salary arbitration before the 2006 season. He signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the
Boston Red Sox on January 6, 2006. After his father's death in 2006, Snow wore his father's number 84 in his honor. He served primarily in a
platoon with
Kevin Youkilis at first base until he requested to be
designated for assignment due to a lack of playing time. He was granted his designation June 19, and was officially released eight days later.
San Francisco Giants (2008) and retirement At the end of the 2006 season, Snow retired from baseball and began working as a
color commentator on Giants radio broadcasts alongside play-by-play announcer
Dave Flemming. He has also served as an advisor to the Giants'
general manager,
Brian Sabean, and as a roving minor league instructor for the Giants. On September 24, 2008, the Giants signed Snow to a one-day contract to allow him to retire as a Giant. However, rather than immediately retiring after signing the symbolic contract and receiving no actual pay as is usually done, Snow was penciled into the starting lineup and took the field on September 27 against the Dodgers, but was replaced before the first pitch. It was a move that allowed Snow to officially take the field as a Giants player one last time.
Eugenio Vélez,
Omar Vizquel, and
Rich Aurilia threw balls in the dirt to mess with Snow during fielding practice prior to the first pitch, but Snow still made the plays. For his brief official appearance, he received the prorated league minimum salary of $2,100. In 28 postseason games, Snow batted .327 (32-for-98) with 11 runs, 3 home runs and 15 RBI. ==Coaching career==