JT Snow Retired (6-23-2004)

J.T.  Snow

What is your baseball philosophy?

Hard work. When I was in high school I played football, basketball and baseball. When I came out of high school I went to the University of Arizona. When I went to Arizona I was on a scholarship for baseball, and I just started playing baseball only. I really think it was there where I learned how to play the game. In high school I was more of an athlete playing three sports getting by on athletic talent. When I got to college my coach was a guy named Jerry Kendall who was a great teacher who taught me a lot about the game. It was a top program so I went there and had a lot of success and when I went to pro ball I had a good foundation after playing in a good conference, the PAC-10, playing for a good coach, and a good program. When I got into pro ball I felt I was ahead of some other guys as far as understanding the game, and knowing how to play the game. I’ve played with a lot more guys that had more talent and ability that could hit the ball farther and run faster but they maybe didn’t understand how to play the game day in and day out. That had a lot to do with it I think coming from a good program.

What is your hitting philosophy?

I take every at bat one at a time. Like last night I hit a home run in my first at bat. When I came up for my second at bat that first at bat is over. I try to take them one at a time. At the end of the game you can judge yourself if you had a successful game or an unsuccessful game. A lot of times you can go 0 for 4 and have a good game with the bat. The only thing we can control as hitters is hitting the ball hard, getting a good pitch, and hitting the ball hard. I learned that in college, and I learned that after I got drafted by the Yankees and playing in their minor league system. I got traded to the Angles and got a chance to work with Rod Carew who was our hitting coach. That is all he really preached, having good at bats, and swinging at strikes. If you hit a line drive and get out, you beat the pitcher that time even though it doesn’t show in the box score. Stats can be misleading at times. Your batting average is just that, an average of your whole season. Hitting is probably the hardest thing to do in sports. You have to try and stay somewhere in the middle and take the ups and downs. My philosophy is just try to have good at bats. A good at bat could be a walk, hitting a line drive somewhere, or swinging at good pitches.

Pitchers throw inside and outside to set up hitters. Do hitters set up pitchers?

We as hitters have to adjust to the pitching. The pitchers are the ones with the ball in their hand and they start everything. They know what they are going to throw. We have to react to what they throw. Hitting is a little chess match from pitch to pitch, at bat to at bat, game to game, and from series to series. The big leagues have the best scouts. You have to understand what the pitcher and catcher are trying to do to you. A lot of time the catchers are calling the game, so you’re better off thinking with the catcher because the pitcher throws what the catcher calls. Obviously if the pitcher throws you a fastball and you hit it out of the ball park you probably not going to see one of those again in the game or the next series during a hitters count. They might throw it in or way in to get you off the plate to get you thinking about there in that spot. It’s no secret if they get you out with a pitch they will probably keep going back to it until you prove to them you can hit it. You have got to make adjustments from pitch to pitch, at bat to at bat.

It seems that at times, guys with all the talent don’t seem to go as far as guys with lesser

Talent? Why is that?

I don’t know. I think that anyone who gets into pro ball or college ball has talent. I think everybody in the major leagues is a talented player. Some things your born with, some things are god given, your size, your speed. Those guys have to out work the other guys. There’s one thing that these kids who get signed and drafted in the first round now are given a lot of money and I think personally that’s more of a problem in baseball. You give a high school kid a couple million dollars he has had to have lost some of that fire, that drive when you have that already in the bank. As opposed to a kid who is a fortieth round pick who got a thousand dollars to sign. A lot of those guys have to out work those other guys. The guys who get drafted lower usually don’t get a fair chance because they are give every chance to the higher pick to make it because that’s an investment the team has made in them. There are a lot of guys who are top picks that end up being great players but the one thing you can’t judge is a guy’s heart or desire, his attitude. You can scout physical ability but it is hard to scout mental toughness and a guy’s desire to play. A lot of those guys who get drafted lower have that little bit extra drive and desire. You see it every year and baseball is not an easy game. It’s a game that you are playing day in and day out. It’ll search you out. If you have weaknesses it will find them.

Do you think that first-round draft picks or high draft picks get more chances?

Definitely. It just goes back to if a team has a couple of million dollars invested in a player as opposed to a couple thousand they are going to give the guy with a couple million every opportunity to make to the big leagues because that is going to make the organization look better and the people making decisions. I have played with a lot of guys that were top picks and some guys that were lower picks that might have been better but that top pick is going to get all the chances.

In Spring Training a lot of talented guys compete for your spot. How do you approach that situation?

You just go out and play. There’ll come a time. You can’t play the game forever. I was lucky. I grew up in an athletic family with my dad playing football so he always preached if you good enough you’ll play, if you’re not and there is somebody better they are going to play. The only thing you want to do is give yourself every opportunity, every chance to be the best player you could be and that’s by working hard and having a good attitude and all the stuff I talked about earlier. It’s a little different at the big league level when the guys have contracts, a two or three year deal, the team is invested in them they are going to get the chance to play. There is a lot of turn over, everyone wants to play, and guys will go pretty much anywhere to play and to keep a job.

Was there a time in your career that you wanted to give up baseball? How did you overcome that?

Never, not yet. As I’m getting older there are other things in life to do. I have a family now and school. We have a great life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. You do miss a lot with your family, kids t-ball games, soccer games, but baseball is such a short period of your life. This is my fifteenth year playing, eleventh year in the big leagues, so you look at fifteen years is a long time to be playing but in the big scheme of things in your life, fifteen years isn’t really that much. You have to make the most of it while you can. I have been playing baseball since I was six years old. I haven’t missed a year from little league to high school and I’m 36 years now so I have been playing baseball for thirty years of my life. You just got to go as hard as you can as long as you can.

What are some of the things about pro sports you learned the hard way?

I think the ups and downs of baseball playing everyday. You can tell somebody about it but until you go through it you really don’t understand playing everyday. Baseball is a game ups and downs. You could be swinging the bat great for ten games in a row and you can go the next five games and not get a hit. Same way with a pitcher, they can be throwing the ball great and go through stretches where they can’t get anyone out. Those are the things you have to learn the hard way. People can tell you about them but until you experience it, usually two things will happen, guys will figure it out and make a career out of it or they can’t figure it out and they are out of the game. I think it is the guy that can figure it out and stay even keel. My dad preached stress but they can’t go out and do it for you. My dad have never stepped in the batter’s box and taken a swing for me or fielded a ground ball or anything like that. There are certain things that they can help you with and a lot of that is the mental side of the game, trying to stay positive, staying strong when things aren’t going well, staying positive.

How you handle the fans’, the loud mouths, etc?

I don’t know. My philosophy is fans pay their money to buy a ticket to come to the game and they can say what they want. I think you respect the fans more that cheer you on, who are saying positive things, rather then people who are yelling certain things. I feel bad for the person who bought their ticket and they have to sit next to some loudmouth person screaming the whole game at somebody. That wouldn’t be to fun. Usually people who talk the loudest or talk the most sometimes don’t really know too much of what they’re saying. It doesn’t happen too much at home, when you go on the road you get some crazy fans. You block it out. At home you like your crowd to be positive and support you. Everybody that I have ever played with when they step on the field guys are tying and giving their best. Guys want to win. Baseball’s a hard game. I have been on the DL the last month and have watched a lot of games on TV and in the dugout and it looks awful easy. I wish every fan could have the opportunity to stand in for a couple of at bats or to go out in the field and field a ground ball, smashed off someone’s bat right at you or run down a fly ball. Baseball is a very tough game. Guys at our level just make it look easy, but is doesn’t come easy, you have to work hard. Guys are giving their best efforts and trying. That is all you can ask for.

How about the umpires? How you handle the bad calls like balls and strikes?

I think if you respect them early on they are going to respect you back. They’re human. Baseball is a game. Humans and not instant replay or machines make close calls. Those guys also are trying. They my miss a call here and there but for the most part they get about 99% of the calls right. Calling ball and strikes is tough. If you think about it every hitter that comes up is a different size, has a different strike zone, that ump has got to change his strike zone from hitter to hitter so they re going to miss some calls. Do they do it intentionally? No it is just part of the game. It is what makes baseball a great game, the human element. For the most part they are right on with most of the calls.

What do you think about brush backs, knockdowns, and retaliation?

I don’t like the rule now where the guy throws one inside and they give him an instant warning. Now the other team, if a guy unintentionally throws one high a tight, he may get run from the game. It’s part of the game. If you are going throw at a guy intentionally throw it below his waist, don’t be throwing up around the head or shoulders. I don’t think a lot of times a pitcher are intentionally trying to hit guys. They may be trying to come inside and waste a pitch inside and it gets away from them. If a guy hits a long home run and stands at home plate and watches it that is showing up your opponent. The next time he comes up he may get one under his chin. I think if you respect your opponent and you respect the game a lot of that stuff would go away. Everyone is different and guys have little things that they do. That is why guys are wearing elbow guards and arm guards now. I really enjoy watching old footage of guys pitching. Those guys like Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson through inside and under guy’s chins. The guys just got up and dusted themselves off. It was part of the game. Now days it is entertainment. Barry hits one and he may watch it, or Sosa hits one and he does the hop. Some guys want to have their little nitch when they hit a home run but like I said I was always taught you respect your opponent. My dad always taught me when you do something make it look like you have done it a hundred times before. So when you hit a home run make it look like it is not the last one you are ever going to hit. He played in the NFL and caught a lot of touchdowns and told me he never once spiked the ball because he didn’t want to make it look like it was the first time he had ever caught a touchdown or it was going to be the last. He just flipped the ball to the referee. It’s the same way in baseball. You strike somebody out, walk off the mound, or if you hit a home run. I always respected Matt Williams the way he would hit a ball out and ran around the bases like you were supposed too. That is what you should do.

What would you tell a kid in high school about professional baseball?

I would tell them it is a great dream to have. Every kid dreams of being a professional ball player some day. I had that dream. If you have that dream keep working hard. It is a great life, it’s a lot of fun. There are only a certain amount of people that get to do it. You have to have a lot of things go you way. You have to have a lot of breaks, get lucky, stay healthy. Timing, you have to be in the right situation right time. It is a great dream to have. If it doesn’t work out you should have something to fall back on. I was going to graduate from college if baseball didn’t workout. There are so many things you can’t predict. I had the same thing said to me when I was a kid, not that many make it but I was one of those people who said I am going to be one of those that makes it and it just worked out that way. If it doesn’t have something to fall back on. Always keep that dream alive because if I can do it most people can do it. It’s a lot of practice, a lot of hard work, you have to have a good attitude, and you have to be coachable. I’ve played with a lot of guys who have had a lot of talent but just weren’t coachable. They get a bad label and before you know it they’re out of the game. It’s hard. I’m in my eleventh year in the major leagues and I never thought I would play this long. I just took it year by year and before you know it you got five years, then ten. It’s been great. It’s been fun. I tell kids if they want to do it never lose sight of that dream and give everything they got to try and make it come true.