Where Are They Now?: Corey Snyder

Image credit: (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

For the first time since his youth, 57-year-old Cory Snyder will not have a role in baseball this season. In mid-December, he accepted a job in car sales for Murdock Hyundai of Lindon, Utah.

Snyder leaves quite a legacy in baseball. He was a three-time All-American at Brigham Young, a member of the first U.S. Olympic baseball team in 1984, the fourth overall pick the same year and hit 149 home runs over nine seasons in the big leagues. Then he coached, managed and worked in the front office for 13 seasons at an assortment of independent and minor league stops.

“I’m a different kind of coach when I do baseball and hitting,” Snyder said. “I try to get the players to be more involved in the solution, more involved in the adjustments, so they take more ownership of the game.

“I feel like car sales is going to be the same way, just getting to understand customers, building a rapport, building a relationship and finding out what they need.”

Snyder also has his good name to sell, both from playing at BYU and in Cleveland, where he was a fan favorite during his five seasons with the Indians from 1986 to 1990.

Snyder arrived at BYU as a pitching prospect. When he slugged the first three pitches he saw as a freshman for home runs, he was soon a full-time shortstop.

He set an NCAA record for slugging percentage (.900) while batting .450 with 27 home runs and 85 RBIs as a junior. Snyder left BYU after three seasons with an NCAA record .844 slugging percentage and 73 home runs, the second most ever at the time.

His best season as an outfielder with the Indians produced 33 home runs and 82 RBIs in 1987 despite a .236 batting average. Then the Indians traded Snyder to the White Sox following the 1990 season, and he was introduced to The Walt Hriniak Way of hitting.

The results were disastrous and Snyder’s playing career was over by 1995.

After several seasons coaching his two young sons in baseball, Snyder’s professional coaching career took him through independent league ball in Utah and Hawaii, and to Double-A and Triple-A as a hitting instructor for the Mariners. Then, he became the fourth American manager to win a Mexican League title with Puebla in 2016. He also managed in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2017 and 2018.

A year ago, Snyder worked in the front office of the Angels-affiliate Orem Owlz of the Rookie-level Pioneer League.

Now, Snyder looks forward to spending more time with Tina, his wife of 34 years, his four daughters and two sons. Taylor is a shortstop in the Rockies organization. Amberley is on a rodeo scholarship at Utah Valley University.

Amberley was paralyzed from the waist down nine years ago in an automobile crash and is the subject of a Netflix film “Walk. Ride. Rodeo.” She is a motivational speaker around the world.

“She has realized she can help a lot of people overcome challenges and obstacles and tough times in their lives,” Snyder said.