{{Short description|American baseball player (1895–1962)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Frank Snyder |image=Frank Snyder.jpg |position=Catcher |bats=Right |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1895|5|27}} |birth_place=San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1962|1|5|1895|5|27}} |death_place=San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=August 18 |debutyear=1912 |debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 29 |finalyear=1927 |finalteam=St. Louis Cardinals |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.265 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=47 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=525 |teams= '''As player''' * St. Louis Cardinals ({{Baseball year|1912}}–{{Baseball year|1919}}) * New York Giants ({{Baseball year|1919}}–{{Baseball year|1926}}) * St. Louis Cardinals ({{Baseball year|1927}}) '''As coach''' * New York Giants ({{Baseball year|1933}}–{{Baseball year|1941}}) |highlights= * 3× World Series champion ({{wsy|1921}}, {{wsy|1922}}, {{wsy|1933}}) }}
'''Frank Elton Snyder''' (May 27, 1895 – January 5, 1962), was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1912 to 1927 for the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference">[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/snydefr01.shtml Frank Snyder] at Baseball Reference</ref> Nicknamed Pancho, Snyder was of Mexican descent on his mother's side.<ref>{{cite book |author=James, Bill |title=The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract |publisher=Free Press |location=New York |year=2001 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newbilljameshist00jame/page/409 409] |isbn=0-684-80697-5 }}</ref>
==Major league career== Snyder began his major league career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1912 at the age of 18.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference"/> He was traded to the New York Giants in the middle of the 1919 season.<ref>[http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=snydefr01 Frank Snyder Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac]</ref> Snyder was a member of John McGraw's New York Giants teams that won four consecutive National League pennants between {{Baseball year|1921}} and {{Baseball year|1924}} and played on two World Series winners in 1921 and 1922.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference"/>
Snyder also homered in the final game of the 1923 World Series, but the Yankees staged a comeback to defeat the Giants.
During that period, Snyder posted a batting average above .300 three times, with a .320 average in 1921, a .343 average in 1922 and a .302 average in 1924.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference"/> Snyder hit the first major league home run in the history of Braves Field in 1922.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ji4DAAAAMBAJ&q=baseball+digest+shanty+hogan&pg=PA24 |title=Diamonds Are Rough All Over |author=Frank, Stanley |date=July 1947 |work=Baseball Digest |access-date=February 24, 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It was the first home run hit in the seven seasons played at the cavernous ballpark. In 1926, he was selected off waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference"/> He played for the Cardinals in 1927 before retiring at the end of the season at the age of 33.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference"/>
==Career statistics== In a sixteen-year major league career, Snyder played in 1,392 games, accumulating 1,122 hits in 4,229 at bats for a .265 career batting average along with 44 triples, 47 home runs and 525 runs batted in.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference"/> A good defensive player, his .981 career fielding average was 8 points higher than the league average over the span of his playing career.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference"/> Snyder led National League catchers in fielding percentage three times: in 1914, 1923 and 1925.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LSsDAAAAMBAJ&dq=july+2001+fielding+leaders+baseball+digest&pg=PA86 ''Baseball Digest'', July 2001, Vol. 60, No. 7]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, {{ISSN|0005-609X}}</ref> He also led the league twice in putouts and caught stealing percentage and, once in assists and in baserunners caught stealing.<ref name="Frank Snyder at Baseball Reference"/> His 204 assists as a catcher in {{Baseball year|1915}} is the seventh highest single-season total in major league baseball history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/A_c_season.shtml |title=Single-Season Leaders & Records for Assists as Catcher |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=November 11, 2011}}</ref> His 1,332 career assists rank him 17th all-time among major league catchers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/A_c_career.shtml |title=Career Leaders & Records for Assists as Catcher |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=November 11, 2011}}</ref>
Richard Kendall of the Society for American Baseball Research devised a study that ranked Snyder as the ninth-most dominating fielding catcher in major league history.<ref>[http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/dominate.htm Dominating Fielding Catchers at The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers]</ref> His reputation as a defensive standout is enhanced because of the era in which he played. In the Deadball Era, catchers played a huge defensive role, given the large number of bunts and stolen base attempts, as well as the difficulty of handling the spitball pitchers who dominated pitching staffs.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9S0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26 "For Catchers, The Name of the Game is Defense"], by George Vass, ''Baseball Digest'', May 2005, Vol. 64, No. 3], {{ISSN|0005-609X}}</ref>
==Coaching career== After his playing career, he served as a coach for the New York Giants, and was a minor league manager.<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=snyder001fra#standard_managing Frank Snyder Minor league Manager record] at Baseball Reference</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category}} {{Baseballstats|br=s/snydefr01}} *{{Find a Grave}} * [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/frank-snyder/ Frank Snyder] at SABR Bio Project
{{1921 New York Giants}} {{1922 New York Giants}} {{1933 New York Giants}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Frank}} Category:1895 births Category:1962 deaths Category:Major League Baseball catchers Category:Baseball players from San Antonio Category:New York Giants (NL) coaches Category:New York Giants (baseball) players Category:St. Louis Cardinals players Category:Springfield Reapers players Category:Houston Buffaloes managers Category:Houston Buffaloes players Category:Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Category:Fort Worth Panthers players Category:St. Paul Saints (AA) players Category:Jersey City Giants players Category:Birmingham Barons managers Category:Toledo Mud Hens managers Category:American people of Mexican descent Category:Sportspeople of Mexican descent Category:Burials at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Category:20th-century American sportsmen