By Woodrow Carroll
Thanks to an eight-game winning streak through Sunday, July 2, the Atlanta Braves possessed the best record in Major League Baseball with record of 56-27 (.675). The Braves are well-positioned to win another World Series championship to go with the Atlanta championship in 2021.
Were he to guide Atlanta to postseason glory this season, Braves’ manager Brian Snitker would become the franchise’s first manager to win multiple World Series championships.
Franchise history for the Braves goes back to the 19th Century.
For the sake of clarity, we will only go back to 1903, the year of the first World Series.
The 2021 Braves’ World Series victory was the fourth for the franchise.
In 1914, the Boston Braves took out the Philadelphia Athletics, four games to zero to win the World Series. In 1957, the Milwaukee Braves nipped the New York Yankees, four games to three. In 1995 the Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Indians in six games to give Atlanta its first World Series champion. Lastly, is Snitker’s 2021 championship team.
Brian Snitker, 67, has for many years been in the Braves’ organization in different capacities, however, Snitker never got to swing the bat in a big league game.’
Snitker spent 15 seasons as a minor league manager in the Braves’ organization. His big break came in 2016 when Atlanta fired then-manager Fredi Gonzalez and replaced him with Snitker. For a time, Snitker was viewed as the interim manager.
The interim status soon changed and he was hired full-time.
Counting his interim time in 2016, Snitker is in his eighth season as Braves manager, and, short of a major collapse, the Braves will capture the National League East championship for the sixth consecutive season.
Long before reaching the fringes of Major League Baseball, Snitker was part of a near-legendary high school baseball team from the Decatur, Ill. area.
In 1971, Snitker was a sophomore right fielder for the Macon High School team. Macon’s good team reached the one-class State tournament. But, Macon was hardly the favorite with the likes of Chicago Lane Tech, Rockford West, and Waukegan in the Final Eight.
In 1971, the Illinois State Baseball Tournament was played in Peoria at Bradley University’s Meinen Field. Macon opened by beating Nashville, 5-0, to earn a semifinal berth.
Next up for Macon in semifinal action was Lane Tech, Lane with an enrollment of 5,200 compared to Macon’s 250 students.
Lane Tech the typical Chicago Public League power back then. In 1969, Chicago Schurz captured the State baseball championship. In 1973, Chicago Hubbard claimed the State championship. The Chicago Public League representative was one of the teams to beat back then.
In the Macon-Lane Tech game , Macon, then known as the Ironmen, shocked Lane Tech by taking a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh and final regulation inning tournament game, then stave off a late Lane rally to win, 6-4, and move into the State championship game against Waukegan. Macon Magic was not evident in the 1971 State championship game. Waukegan took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Macon scored twice before Waukegan took a 4-2 victory.
As the fates would have it, the final Macon out was a ground out by Snitker.
Today, the school is known as Macon Meridian. A consolidation with neighboring Blue Mound in 1994 brought a name change. Gone are the Ironmen! Today, its the Hawks! The basketball and football teams went to the fore at the school. The Macon Meridian Hawks captured the Illinois Class 1A Boys Basketball State championship in 2009.
Snitker may be long removed from his glory days at Macon High School, however, there are worlds still to conquer. Nonetheless, moments more than 50 years ago fondly remain.