Snow Level Keeps Rising : His 24-homer, 102-RBI Season Has the Angels’ First Baseman Confident His Time Has Come

Angel first baseman J.T. Snow is a rational guy, a down-to-earth type who says his wife finds him “pretty boring at times.” A thrill-seeker he’s not. He doesn’t sky-dive or drive race cars in the off-season. His closest flirtation with danger was a recent attempt at surfing.

So why is it every time a popup goes into foul territory beyond the first-base bag, Snow turns into Evel Knievel, a fearless fielder who will crash into walls, dive onto artificial turf or traverse bullpen mounds with absolutely no regard for his safety?

“I guess there’s that bit of recklessness in me,” Snow, 28, said. “I was always that way as a kid. I was the one doing flips off the diving board, body-surfing the biggest waves, taking jumps on my motorcycle. When you’re on the field, you’re a different person.”

This transformation from dull to dauntless is one reason the former Los Alamitos High three-sport standout won his first Gold Glove in 1995.

His fielding percentage of .997 was third among American League first basemen, but Snow’s ability to make the spectacular plays set him apart from Kansas City’s Wally Joyner and Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro.

Plays that immediately come to mind are diving catches of foul balls after long runs in Toronto’s Skydome and Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The Toronto catch, in the first week of last season, was notable because of Snow’s instinct and improvisation.

As he sprinted back about 120 feet for Ed Sprague’s popup toward the right-field corner, Snow lost track of the ball. But he noticed people in the crowd standing, as if they were going to catch the ball, so he ran toward them, looked up, “and sure enough, I was right on the ball,” he said.

Snow was parallel to the turf and about two feet off the ground when he caught the ball, then he skidded on the hard, rough surface just in front of the wall.

Later in the season, Snow ran full speed into a Skydome wall, trying to catch Paul Molitor’s foul pop-up.

“When you coast, that’s when you get injured, so you have to give everything you have on those plays,” said Snow, the son of former Ram receiver Jack Snow. “That’s something I’ve always loved to do. There’s nothing better than to make a play like that and see the look on your pitcher’s face.”

The Angels expected such defense when they got Snow from the New York Yankees in the 1992 Jim Abbott trade. When Snow was playing Class-A ball in Prince William, Va., in 1990, his manager, Gary Denbow, predicted Snow would win a Gold Glove.

The Angels also projected Snow as a .280 hitter with enough power to hit 20 home runs and knock in 80 runs a season, but it wasn’t until 1995 that Snow developed into the offensive player the Angels had envisioned.

With his .289, 24-homer, 102-RBI season, Snow finally put to rest the doubts and trade rumors that haunted him for two years in Anaheim.

“He came through some tough times, where he didn’t get a lot of support or positive encouragement,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said. “But he had a full year of wire-to-wire results last season. We think he’s here to stay.”

The Angels’ commitment is backed by a three-year, $6-million contract offer they hope to restore once their ownership picture clears. That offer, and the security of knowing the first-base job is his, has made for a much more relaxing spring training for Snow.

“I don’t have to worry about trying to impress people,” he said. “They know what I can do, but before last season, that was still up in the air. I’ve been able to concentrate on getting ready for the season instead of wondering what they’re thinking, worrying about getting two hits on a certain day . . . and the fact the manager is in your corner is nice too.”

Too often in 1993 and early 1994, it seemed, Snow and then-manager Buck Rodgers were in opposite corners. When things went right for Snow--as when he opened 1993 by hitting .407 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 15 games--Rodgers and Snow were chums.

But when things went sour--as when Snow’s average dipped to .205 by the end of July 1993, and he was sent to the minor leagues, and when he struggled in the spring of 1994 and was sent down just before the season--Snow and Rodgers were at odds.

“I got barraged with so many ways to do things--how to hit, how to play the game--that my head was seriously spinning,” Snow said. “At times I didn’t know where to turn.”

The trade rumors began in the spring of 1994, and Snow was all but dealt to the New York Mets for pitcher Anthony Young until a hamstring injury to Young squelched the deal at the last minute.

Snow was called to the manager’s office during a Freeway Series game, where Bavasi and assistant general manager Tim Mead--not Rodgers--informed him he was being sent to triple-A Vancouver and Eduardo Perez would open the season as the Angels’ first baseman.

“The way that was handled upset me,” Snow said. “For a clubhouse kid to get me in the middle of a game and send me to the manager’s office . . . it left a bad taste in my mouth.”

But Snow said he harbors no ill feelings toward Rodgers. In fact, he spoke to Rodgers at a recent golf tournament, and the two got along fine.

“He was great to me,” Snow said. “He said he did what he felt was right at the time, and I can understand that. I don’t hold grudges. I learned from all those experiences, and they made me a better player. Everyone has to handle some adversity, and I did early in my career.”

After Rodgers was fired and replaced by Lachemann in May 1994, Snow was recalled from Vancouver in June, but his .220 average the rest of the season hardly solidified his job. Questions remained in the spring of ‘95, when Lachemann said if Snow didn’t hit, “We’re going to have to look for other alternatives.”

But Snow, determined to drop the constant self-analysis that may have contributed to his struggles and vowing not to put extra pressure on himself, came through with a consistent, extremely relaxing offensive year.

“I wasn’t so hard on myself last season,” Snow said. “I was always a perfectionist--that was my upbringing--but when you know you’re going to make an out seven times out of 10, you have to learn to accept failure, that you’re not going to come though with the clutch hit or great play all the time.

“I didn’t let the failures get me down last year. I knew tomorrow would be a new day, with a new pitcher, and I didn’t take the game home with me. There weren’t any sleepless nights, where I’d be thinking, ‘I gotta get three hits tomorrow to make up for my 0 for 5 today.’

“I can honestly say that in 1993 and ’94 there were times when I had a ton of confidence and times when I had absolutely none. But last year I had confidence through the whole season.”

Snow also attributes his breakthrough year to daily work with batting instructor Rod Carew and the natural maturing process. When he looks at videotapes from his three seasons, the switch-hitter can’t notice any drastic style changes.

“But it’s up here,” Snow said, pointing to his head. “It’s knowing what the pitchers are throwing, having a plan. I had a better idea of what I was doing at the plate, and that came from working with Rod. In the past, a lot of players, coaches, managers, trainers and friends were telling me what to do, but last year I blocked all of that out.

“When you’re playing in your hometown you’re always talking to people you grew up with, but last year I kind of went into a shell and blocked all of that out. I realized it’s my career, and if I try to make everyone else happy, I might not be around for long.”