After years of publicly pining for a shot to manage a professional baseball team, former San Francisco Giants first baseman J.T. Snow has finally been granted his wish. On Thursday, the Modesto Glow Riders named Snow their manager for the team’s inaugural season.
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The Glow Riders are the newest members of the Pioneer League, an independent minor league that the Oakland Ballers won last season.
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“Modesto deserves great baseball, and I’m honored to help build that from day one. We’re going to play hard, play smart, and represent this city the right way,” said Snow in the announcement.
Snow played the majority of his 15-year career with the Giants, helping the team reach the World Series in 2002 and win 100 games in 2003. An expert defender at a position not usually associated with defense, Snow won the Gold Glove for first base every year from 1995 to 2000, finishing with six total awards.
Since retiring in 2008, Snow has stayed connected to the Giants as a guest instructor and as a guest host for the Giants radio partner KNBR-AM/FM. Snow hasn’t been shy about his desire to coach and manager professionally. He joined the Ballers as a coach for the 2024 season and strongly implied he should be more involved with his former big league club.
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He even caused a minor kerfuffle when he implied in a San Francisco Chronicle interview that former Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi was ignoring his interest, though Snow later clarified to the Chronicle that ignored interest was actually just a bad game of telephone because of a mistaken phone number. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
In a 2024 KNBR interview, Snow said it would be wise for Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey to “surround himself with some good people” and that he, Snow, would be a smart place to start.
“I’ve already put feelers out. I’ve been trying to get back in the organization for a few years now,” Snow said in 2024. “It hasn’t worked, but I’ve reached out to my agent, and I’ve reached out to some people. I want to get back with them.”
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While not directly on the coaching staff, Snow was used as a coach to help mold Giants prospect Bryce Eldridge at first base this season. But in his attempt at becoming a media personality, Snow criticized Posey’s decision to promote Eldridge late in the season while second-guessing Posey’s decision to trade for Rafael Devers last summer. Snow also found himself in hot water for what was called a “classless” post about Mariners outfielder Victor Robles from a game in April.
After the 2025 season, the Chronicle reported Snow was still interested in a coaching job. It might not be directly with the Giants, but Snow’s new job title will give him the chance to prove to the baseball world that he’s had what it takes to be a coach all along.
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