Van Snider had gotten a taste of the majors the previous September, but his prospects for 1989 weren't good.He could do well and still not make the team. The outfielder had three, better established players already patrolling the outfield at Riverfront Stadium.
"Realistically, I won't make it," Snider told The South Florida Sun Sentinel that March. "I won't be there in April... but there's nothing wrong with being there in May."
It wasn't May, but Snider did make it up for four games in June, and four more in July. The games brought Snider's career total to 19, where it would remain.
Snider began his career with the Royals' system, signed as a free agent in 1981. By 1983, he was at single-A Charleston, where he hit .291, going 4-4 in one July game.
He made AA Jacksonville in 1983, a two-run triple for AA Memphis in August 1985 helped Memphis win. He made AAA Omaha in 1986 after posting 26 home runs at Memphis, his 25th winning a game Aug 22.
By spring 1987, one sportswriter was talking about Snider in Kansas City's right field, ahead of the better-known Bo Jackson. But Bo got the nod.
A year later, Snider was shipped off to the Reds for little-known reliever Jeff Montgomery. Montgomery would go on to post a little-known 304 saves for the Royals and even make the Hall of Fame ballot. Snider, in turn, would hit his first and only home run off Rick Reuschel that September.
Snider played with the Reds at Nashville through 1989, before being traded again, this time to the Yankees in a four-player deal that sent Hal Morris to the Reds. Snider spent two years at Columbus, then four more seasons with four more teams. Snider played for the Red Sox, Cardinals and Twins organizations, as well as in Mexico before hanging it up.
- Lawrence Journal-World, Feb. 17, 1987: Royals ought to infuse veteran lineup with youth
- South Florida Sun Sentinel, March 16, 1989: Snider's Position In Cincinnati? It May Be Left Out
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