Is Snitker on the hot seat?
Sovereignty wins Belmont. Gauff snags French Open. Remembering Mickey Mantle Day
Good morning, all!
Add Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker to the list of managers on the hot seat. His bullpen has more leaks than a government office and every move the Braves make seems to backfire. Each day, Atlanta sends out a new closer and each day he pours gasoline on the fire.
Saturday in San Francisco, the Braves were one strike away from snapping a five-game losing streak, when Matt Chapman belted a two-run homer off of the latest closer, Pierce Johnson, to win the game, 3-2. The homer came less than 24 hours after the Braves DFA’d reliever Craig Kimbrel, who had returned the day before to the team where he had some of his greatest successes.
So where does this leave Snitker? On a very hot seat to say the least. The loss dropped the Braves to a season-low nine games under .500, 12 1/2 games behind the first place Mets, before New York’s game with Colorado. They are nine games back in the wild card race.
Snitker is a baseball lifer and a real nice person. I got to know him in the early 1980s, when he was manager of the Durham Bulls and I was broadcasting for the Kinston Blue Jays. He got to realize a dream he thought would never come true, when the Braves named him interim manager in 2016, replacing Fredi Gonzalez. He helped to turn that organization around, had the interim tag removed, and in 2021 managed the Braves to a World Series title. But they lost star first baseman Freddie Freeman to free agency in the off season to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Braves have not been the same team since.
Coincidentally, the Braves brought back Gonzalez to coach third base last week, but the spark it was hoped he would provide has not ignited. After the series with San Francisco ends today, the Braves head to Milwaukee, their former home. If things do not turn around quickly, Atlanta may be Snitker’s former home.
Remembering Mickey Mantle Day
It was 56 years ago today that the New York Yankees held Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium. More than 60,000 fans jammed the Big Ballpark in the Bronx, as Mantle was saluted in between games of a doubleheader the Yankees swept from the Chicago White Sox. The ceremony included the retiring of his uniform no. 7.
Mantle became an idol to many in the 1950s and early 60s, when the Yankees, led by Mantle, were winning numerous championships and constantly on nationwide television. When Mantle and Roger Maris chased Babe Ruth’s then single-season home run record in 1961, the nation became even more captivated. By the late 60s, the Yankees had lost their luster, but Mantle remained a hero, even as his skills diminished along with the team’s. On this date, the fans turned out to say thank you. I still remember watching this historic event on TV.
Later the Yankees released a 45 RPM record (Remember those?) featuring radio play-by-play highlights of the Mick’s career and also snippets from Mickey Mantle Day. I think I wore out the grooves in the record. Who knew there would be You Tube decades later to relive one of baseball’s cherished occasions?
The Yankees also gave out pennants commemorating the day and a friend, who went to the Stadium, gave me one. For years, it hung on my bedroom door. I do not know what happened to it, but Mickey Mantle Day will hold a special place for me.
Here are some other DAN ON SPORTS top stories for Sunday, June 8, 2025:
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty beats out Preakness winner Journalism to win Belmont Stakes
Rodgers signs $13.65M deal with Steelers
Report: Players threw Thibodeau under the bus in exit interviews
Gauff wins first French Open
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Tie atop Canadian Open leaderboard
Game 2 of NBA Finals tonight. Timberwolves lead OKC 1-0
Game 3 of Stanley Cup finals Monday night. Check the odds
Mickey would have loved this. Red Sox top prospect’s home run almost goes 500 feet
Cowser blasts 455-foot HR for O’s
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DAN