Snitker given hero's welcome at Cobb Chamber event

Nov. 9—CUMBERLAND — Three days after the World Series-winning Atlanta Braves rolled past the Coca-Cola Roxy during their parade through The Battery Atlanta, Cobb County's movers and shakers packed the inside of the concert venue to give a hero's welcome to Braves manager Brian Snitker.

"I tell you what, there is something so incredibly uniting for Cobb, for our community, for Atlanta," said John Loud, chairman of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. "And I just cannot thank enough the Atlanta Braves organization — what you guys have delivered, not only from the Battery and the ballpark and the experience and the community engagement from our nonprofits, and so on. But you even delivered us a World Series within five years."

The high of winning the World Series has yet to wear off for Cobb Countians. Instead of discussing the nuances of supply chains or government regulation, the chamber event was all about continuing to celebrate the Braves' first title in 26 years.

Before the program started, rock star Snitker patiently posed with dozens of fans lining up for pictures. Braves mascot Blooper bounced around the room, and a Braves drumline, the Heavy Hitters, performed onstage as a montage of the Braves' season played on the screen behind them. Loud also led the crowd in a tomahawk chop.

The sold-out crowd, normally limited to the venue's floor, was large enough that the balcony had to be used. Many opted to wear Braves jerseys and Joc Pederson-inspired pearls over their business suits.

Snitker's appearance at the event had been scheduled in September, said Mike Plant, Braves Development Corporation CEO.

"Little did we know what was going to happen over the last month," Plant said.

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, made an impromptu speech and presented Plant with a framed copy of a resolution that he and other Georgia Congress members introduced in the House of Representatives, congratulating the Braves.

Snit reflects

Between all the fanfare, sponsor recognitions and Ed Voyles Automotive Group awarding free one-year car leases to Cobb's teachers of the year, Loud's chat with Snitker was limited to 25 minutes.

Snitker, though, was candid about the emotional journey that brought him to hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy. Winning the series made Snitker reflect on his career, now well-known among baseball fans, which featured decades toiling away in the Braves' minor league teams.

After winning the whole thing, Snitker thought about his wife, Ronnie, buying secondhand bunk beds while they lived in Macon, for the room the couple shared with their kids. He thought about his wife jerryrigging a VCR and TV in the car to keep the kids entertained as they were ferried to games all over the Southeast. He thought about how his family assimilated into the various small towns they lived in, eventually building up a Christmas card list of 500 plus people, and not being able to afford to print that many cards.

"I always felt like I was the guy sitting in my room on the easy chair, watching everybody else do this and wondering how it would feel. Well, now I know," Snitker said to applause. "I'll tell you what, it was worth every second, every year, every mile, every creak of the neck or bad back from riding 12 hours on a bus. It was worth it all. It's something that I can't describe."

Friday's parade, which Snitker described as insane, and the joy on fans' faces, also made it worth it, he said. He also thought about his son, Troy, who would shine players' shoes for a few dollars. Troy Snitker is now a coach for the Astros.

"'You're gonna get a chance to do it again,'" Snitker told his son after the Braves won. "'It took me 45 years to get here. So you know, you'll have plenty of opportunities.'"

Snitker resisted the urge to get excited too early during Game 6.

"You get kicked in the gut enough, you realize that nothing is a given," Snitker said.

It wasn't until the seventh inning that he started counting down outs. During that inning, he pulled starting pitcher Max Fried, who had held the Astros scoreless, replacing him with Tyler Matzek. Based on Matzek's performance throughout the postseason, he then felt like he was in a good place.

Some of the romance surrounding the Braves' season focused on the players they lost to injuries, and how General Manager Alex Anthopoulos rebuilt the team mid-season. Snitker credited his GM with getting it right, saying that even if a team acquires the best players in the business, that doesn't guarantee success.

"If they're not ... team first-oriented, you're not going to have anything," Snitker said. "You're going to have a whole bunch of guys in that clubhouse running into each other, and bouncing off the walls, and playing the game for all the wrong reasons."

Loud asked about Snitker's stoicism in the face of challenges, when fans at home might be grinding their teeth or shouting at the TV.

"When something bad happens, the first place that those players look is at me, to see how I'm going to react," Snitker said. "And if I'm reacting, that means they're going to react. And that can't happen. .... if we won 10 in a row, or lost 10 in a row, if I'm not the same guy, they're going to pick up on that."

With the culture the Braves built, players want to come to the Braves and want to get traded here, Snitker said. A key part of that culture, larger-than-life outfielder Joc Pederson was brought up, and Snitker explained that he himself was "not doing pearls." Plant said before Snitker took the stage, "thank God he's not here." (Pederson screamed an expletive into the microphone during post-parade celebrations.)

"He's got no filter, but the guys loved him," Snitker said. "And it (acquiring Pederson) showed that team that, we're not gonna sell the farm, we're gonna stay in this thing."

Even when the Braves were under .500, nobody was running away with the National League East division, Snitker said. He told his players repeatedly that it doesn't matter how many wins you get, as long as you make the playoffs, you have a shot.

Snitker and the Braves front office are already looking to next year and not taking their foot off the gas, he said. With the shadow of star first baseman Freddie Freeman's contract ending, Snitker said anything could happen.

"This is a business, too. ... I mean, it's hard," he said, remarking that the highly successful Braves of the 1990s had plenty of player turnover year to year. There will be new faces come spring, he said.

"That's the nature of the game, nature of the industry," Snitker said. "These guys, they're going to be free agents, are going to go look out, see what's there. And God bless them. I hope every one of them gets whatever they need to take care of their family, because they're all awesome guys. And I will forever be linked to them."