S.F. Giants Legend to Join Oakland Ballers Coaching Staff
The Oakland Ballers (a.k.a. B's) have made some big hires for their inaugural season, but adding San Francisco Giants legend J.T. Snow as a bench coach and first base coach may be the biggest.
J.T. Snow spent ten of his 16 years in the big leagues with the San Francisco Giants and earned six straight Gold Glove awards from 1995 to 2000 with the Giants and California Angels. He also went 11-for-27 (.407) in the 2002 World Series against his old team and was a teammate to some other greats in Giants history like Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent. He knows a thing or two about playing the game.
The Ballers said on social media that they thought there were being catfished when Snow reached out to them about joining the coaching staff. Turns out it was the legend himself looking for an opportunity.
“I’m thrilled to be able to take on this new role with this new Oakland team. I’ve wanted to get back into the game in a coaching role and the opportunity to work with young players and develop them here in the Bay Area was very appealing to me. I’ve been told that the front office wants to put together the best player program in independent baseball and I’m happy to add to their efforts" Snow said in a press release.
Ballers EVP of Baseball Operations Don Wakamatsu said of bringing J.T. aboard, “I’m extremely excited to be bringing in J.T. because of the wealth of experience he carries with him. He is going to be very important to the kind of professional winning culture that we want to build with this Ballers team. I’ve already had some great discussions with him and I’m glad to be able to give him this opportunity to get him back into the dugout.”
Snow said in a couple of outlets that he had been looking to get into coaching, and after reaching out to the Giants and not hearing back, he decided to reach out to the Ballers to see if he could join their staff.
While the Ballers are meant to keep professional baseball in Oakland with the potential departure of the A's, and Snow is known for his time across the Bay, it's also great to see someone of his stature locally buy into the message of the franchise and give back to the community like so many involved with the club are hoping to do in 2024.
Oakland Ballers snapback hats in both black and green are available for order at Oaklandish, but they have a tendency to move quickly.