Paul Snyder obit

Legendary Braves scout Paul Snyder passes away

Snyder played a huge part in the Braves’ success throughout the 90s. 

He was not on the list.

Legendary Atlanta Braves scout and front office executive Paul Snyder has sadly passed away per MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis. Snyder was 88 years old and spent his entire 50-year professional baseball career in the Braves’ organization.

Snyder is best known for his time as the team’s scouting director where he helped bring notable stars such as Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, David Justice and Chipper Jones into the organization. He moved into an assistant’s role to new general manager John Schuerholz in 1990. Snyder retired from the Braves in 2007 when Schuerholz became team president and Frank Wren took over as the team’s GM.

Snyder was born in Dallastown, Pennsylvania in 1935. He signed with the Braves as an outfielder and first baseman in 1958. He peaked at Triple A as a player and never made it to the majors, but later became a manager in their minor league system. Our condolences go out to Snyder’s family.

Paul Luther Snyder was born in Dallastown, Pennsylvania on June 11, 1935. He spent his entire 50-year professional baseball career in the Braves' organization, signing with them as an outfielder and first baseman in 1958 when the team was still based in Milwaukee. As a player, Snyder never reached the Major Leagues, peaking at the Triple-A level in 1963 with the Denver Bears of the Pacific Coast League — a season which also saw his debut as a minor league manager in the Braves' farm system. Snyder, however, was a strong hitter in his playing days, compiling a lifetime batting average of .318 during his seven-year active career. In his finest over-all campaign, 1962 with the Austin Senators of the Double-A Texas League, Snyder hit .312 with 19 home runs and 113 RBI in 132 games played. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed, stood 6'2" (1.9 m) tall and weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).

Snyder managed Braves' farm clubs and scouted for them between 1963 and 1972. In 1973, he joined the team's front office as assistant minor league administrator before taking the reins of the Braves' farm department in 1977. Working with then-general managers Bill Lucas and John Mullen, Snyder was a major architect of the Braves' strong early 1980s teams under manager Joe Torre—despite having suffered a stroke at age 40 that required brain surgery and an extensive period of rehabilitation.

When the MLB Braves went through a prolonged rebuilding process after winning the 1982 National League West Division championship, Snyder, by now scouting director, assisted general manager Bobby Cox in drafting and developing the talent base—players such as Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, David Justice, Jeff Blauser and Chipper Jones—that served as the foundation for the Braves' string of first-place teams of the 1990s through 2005, including the 1995 world champions. He also served as a top assistant to John Schuerholz when he took over the Atlanta front office after the 1990 season and performed several key functions in the Braves' baseball operations department in addition to working as scouting or player development director.

Snyder retired from the Braves after the 2007 season, which saw Schuerholz move upstairs to the team presidency and a new general manager, Frank Wren, assume control of baseball operations. In 2005, he was inducted into the Braves Museum and Hall of Fame. In 2006, he was presented with the King of Baseball award given by Minor League Baseball. In 2013, he was selected for the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame.