Snyder received a full baseball scholarship to Brigham Young University, where he played for the BYU Cougars baseball team.[6] In his first game with BYU, during his first three at-bats, he hit three home runs on three consecutive pitches. He was named 1982 Freshman of the Year.[6][7]
In May 1986, while playing for the Maine Guides, Snyder was sued after an incident where he threw his bat towards the backstop, but due to pine tar in his hands, it flew into the stands and hit two women sitting in the front row, breaking one of their noses and cracking the dental plate and bloodying the lip of the other.[11][12] A judge dismissed the charges in the criminal case.[13] In March 1988, Snyder settled the civil charges out of court.[14]
In June 1986, Snyder was called up to the major leagues.[5]
In 1989, he suffered a back injury after diving for a ball. A slump in performance followed, leading to an adverse relationship between Snyder and team officials.[17]
On December 4, 1990, the Cleveland Indians traded Snyder to the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Eric King and Shawn Hillegas.[18] His salary was set by an arbitrator at $800,000, a $100,000 raise.[19] There, coach Walt Hriniak forced him to change his hitting style, which Snyder believes was for the worse.[5] He also had a strained relationship with manager Jeff Torborg after being told he would only play part-time.[5] In July 1991, the White Sox traded Snyder to the Toronto Blue Jays for Shawn Jeter and a player to be named later.[20]
In 1998, at age 37, Snyder began to think about a career in coaching. At that time, he lived in Laguna Hills, California, where he taught kids baseball in his backyard. He also owned a sporting goods store.[25]
In December 2001, he opened a baseball facility in Lindon, Utah.[26]
In March 2006, Snyder received a 10-day assignment to assist in coaching the minor league players of the Cleveland Indians.[27]
He managed Pericos de Puebla in the Mexican League, leading the team to their first championship in 30 years by defeating the Tijuana Toros. He is only the fourth American manager to win Mexico's highest professional level baseball championship.
Snyder and his wife Tina have been married since 1985 and have six children, Ashley, Amberley, JC, Taylor, Aubrey, and Autumn.[32] They are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Snyder does not drink alcohol due to his religion.[17] In 1991, Snyder was featured in a public relations campaign by the church to improve the reputation of Mormonism.[33]
Snyder enjoys playing golf and had a 2 handicap.[25]
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