Esix Snead (born June 7, 1976) is an American former professional baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

of the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) (, ). Snead was known for his speed, with 507

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s in only 9 minor league seasons, but only four in two brief appearances with the

College career

Snead attended the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

, playing both

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Professional career

St. Louis Cardinals

Snead was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 18th round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft. Throughout his entire career, Snead hit for a low

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, but still stole high numbers of bases. In with the Low-A New Jersey Cardinals, he hit .233 and stole 42 bases in 58 games. With the Single-A Peoria Chiefs and High-A Potomac Cannons in , he hit under the Mendoza Line, but stole 64 bases in 126 games. The season was Snead's career year. Playing for the Cannons again, he led all minor leaguers in stolen bases and stole a

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

record 109 bases, breaking Lenny Dykstra's record, and made the All-Star game. In , his final season in the Cardinals' organization, he played for Double-A

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

New York Mets

On November 20, 2001, he was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets. Snead played for Double-A Binghamton in and hit .252 with 64 stolen bases. He was called up to the majors and made his major league debut on September 3. On September 21, against the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

, he got his first major league hit, a single, and also ended the game with a three-run walk-off home run. He spent all of with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides and produced more of the same, a .220 batting average and 61 stolen bases. His batting average improved in to .264 and he played 1 game in the majors for the Mets.

Atlanta Braves

Snead became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

at the end of the season and signed a minor league contract with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

on November 10, 2004. He stole 46 bases for Triple-A Richmond, but his season was marred by a suspension. In a game against the Syracuse SkyChiefs,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Dave Bush threw a ball between Snead's legs causing Snead to have to be held back by the

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. After drawing a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

, he charged Bush while walking to first base and threw his batting helmet at him, causing both benches to clear. 20 members of the Braves were fined including Snead who also drew a 10-game suspension.

Baltimore Orioles

The

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

signed him on January 24, , and he played for Triple-A

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. In 41 games, he batted .220 with 15 steals. The Orioles released Snead on May 21.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snead, Esix 1976 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Lee County, Florida Binghamton Mets players Major League Baseball outfielders New Haven Ravens players New Jersey Cardinals players New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players Ottawa Lynx players Peoria Chiefs players Potomac Cannons players Richmond Braves players Sportspeople from Fort Myers, Florida UCF Knights baseball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen