Gerald George Snyder (July 21, 1929 – January 31, 2022) was an American

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

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 ...

who played his entire career for the Washington Senators from

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. Listed at , , he batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Jenks, Oklahoma Jenks is a city in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States, and a suburb of Tulsa, in the northeastern part of the state. It is situated between the Arkansas River and U.S. Route 75. Jenks is one of the fastest-growing cities in Oklahoma. The city ...

. Snyder started his career in 1946 with the Niagara Falls Frontiers of the Class C

Middle Atlantic League The Middle Atlantic League (or Mid-Atlantic League) was a lower-level circuit in United States, American minor league baseball that played during the second quarter of the 20th century. History The Middle Atlantic League played from 1925 in base ...

. Signed by the

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

' scout

Tom Greenwade Thomas E. Greenwade (August 21, 1904 – August 10, 1986) was an American baseball scout. After a brief minor league career as a pitcher and manager, Greenwade scouted for the St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees of Major League ...

in 1947, he played for their

farm teams In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

during five

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

seasons. He was still a member of the Triple-A Kansas City Blues when he was traded to Washington on May 3, 1952, along with

Jackie Jensen Jack Eugene Jensen (March 9, 1927 – July 14, 1982) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for three American League (AL) teams from 1950 to 1961, most notably the Boston Red Sox. He was named the AL's Most Valuable P ...

, Spec Shea and Archie Wilson in the same transaction that brought

Irv Noren Irving Arnold Noren (November 29, 1924 – November 15, 2019) was an American professional baseball and basketball player. He was an outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1950 through 1960 for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees, Kansas C ...

and Tom Upton to the Yankees. While in Washington, Snyder provided infield support for

Pete Runnels James Edward "Pete" Runnels (January 28, 1928 – May 20, 1991) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as an infielder for the Washington Senators (1951–57), Boston Red Sox (1958– ...

Herb Plews Herbert Eugene Plews (June 14, 1928 – December 12, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman. He played four years in the majors, from 1956 to 1959 with the Washington Senators and in 1959 for the Boston Red Sox. In the mino ...

and

Eddie Yost Edward Frederick Joseph Yost (October 13, 1926 – October 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played most of his Major League Baseball career as a third baseman for the Washington Senators, then played t ...

, playing mainly at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. His most productive season came in 1954, when he posted career-numbers in games (64), runs (17) and RBI (17), while hitting .234 (36-for-154). In 1956 he batted a career-high .270 with two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 14 RBI. On July 18, 1955, Snyder participated in five

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

s at second base to tie a then major league record. He also played in the Venezuelan league and appeared in the

1959 Caribbean Series The eleventh edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was played in 1959. It was held from February 10 through February 15 with the champions teams from Cuba ( Almendares), Panama ( Coclé), Puerto Rico ( Santurce) and Venezuela ( Or ...

. In a seven-season career, Snyder was a .230 hitter (145-for-630) with three home runs and 47 RBI in 266 games, including 60 runs, 18 doubles, two

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

and seven

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. He played 15 professional seasons, through 1961, and spent part of his final campaign as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

of the

Macon Peaches The Macon Peaches was the predominant name of the American minor league baseball franchise representing Macon, Georgia, during the 20th century. Although Macon did not field teams during and immediately after World War I, the height of the Great ...

of the Double-A

Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...

. Snyder died in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, on January 31, 2022, at the age of 92.

References

Sources

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Jerry 1929 births 2022 deaths Baseball players from Oklahoma Beaumont Exporters players Beaumont Roughnecks players Chattanooga Lookouts players Joplin Miners players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball shortstops Miami Marlins (International League) players Montreal Royals players Omaha Dodgers players People from Jenks, Oklahoma Sportspeople from Tulsa County, Oklahoma Quincy Gems players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen