John Schneider
John Patrick Schneider
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 3", Weight 250 lb.
- School University of Delaware
- High School Lawrence Township High School
- Born February 14, 1980 in Princeton, NJ USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Catcher John Schneider was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 13th round of the 2002 amateur draft out of the University of Delaware. He had made All-Colonial Athletic Association as a junior that year. He played six seasons in the Blue Jays organization, including parts of four seasons with the AAA Syracuse Chiefs.
Schneider debuted with the Auburn Doubledays in 2002, hitting .240/.381/.352. He struggled in 2003 with the Charleston AlleyCats (.195/.324/.259 in 56 games as the backup to David Corrente and Syracuse (1 for 12, 7 K). In 2004, he hit .206/.373/.359 in 58 contests for the Dunedin Blue Jays. It would be the most he played for any team in one season; he had 6 homers and 28 RBI that year.
The Princeton native split 2005 between Dunedin (.321/.443/.482 in 22 G), the and Syracuse (.179/.307/.305 in 34 G). In 2006, he batted .233/.360/.447 in a total of 34 games shuttling between Dunedin, Syracuse and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He ended up in 2007 with New Hampshire (.186/.338/.318) and Syracuse (.104/.173/.208).
He suffered three concussions in 2007, putting an end to his playing career, spent mainly as a back-up. His 64 games played, split between AA and AAA, in his final year, were his highest seasonal total. The lack of playing time was caused by a series of injuries. He hit .206/.340/.336 overall in the minors.
In 2008, he was appointed hitting coach with the GCL Blue Jays of the Gulf Coast League, and took over as manager the next season. He was at the time the youngest manager in affiliated baseball. After managing from 2009-2011, Schneider returned to coaching the GCL Blue Jays.
In 2019, under first-year manager Charlie Montoyo, he was promoted to the major league coaching staff. In 2022, with expectations for the team sky-high, he was appointed the team's bench coach, replacing Dave Hudgens and on July 13th was named interim manager when Montoy was abruptly fired after a disappointing first half. The appointment was an interim one, and he had his work cut out: bring the team back into the postseason picture, or risk being terminated as well at the end of the season. He was a winner in his first game, 8-2 over the Philadelphia Phillies as Teoscar Hernández, one the players who had been scuffling under Montoyo, hit a pair of two-run homers. The move turned out to be an inspired one as the Jays played very well after the change, then after a slump in August, had an excellent month of September to secure the top wild card spot in the American League, and with that the right to host all three games of the Wild Card Series at home against the Seattle Mariners. The Jays had 46 wins under Montoyo and another 46 under Schneider, but the first total was against 42 losses, while they only lost 28 times with Schneider at the helm. The Jays were surprisingly swept in two games by the Mariners in the Wild Card Series, but a few days later, on October 21st, it was announced that he had been rewarded for his excellent performance overall with a three-year contract, removing the "interim" tag after his name.
During spring training in 2023, he made the news for reasons unrelated to baseball when he saved a woman who was choking by applying the Heimlich maneuver in a timely manner. He was having lunch with his wife at a restaurant in Dunedin, FL when he noticed another patron choking on her food and intervened when he realized other persons present did not know what to do. He said he had only received training on the procedure back in school days and had not thought about it in more than three decades when his skills suddenly had to be put in practice. The restaurant's owner thanked him with a free beer. That year, the Blue Jays returned to the postseason after winning 89 games in the regular season, but they once again made an early exit, losing both games of the Wild Card Series to the Minnesota Twins. The Jays then had a very trying season in 2024, characterized by a slew of injuries and some sub-par performances, particularly by established stars George Springer and Bo Bichette. Schneider had no choice but to give a large number of youngsters a look, especially after the Jays were sellers at the trading deadline. Never in the race, the team finished in last place in the AL East with just 74 wins.
| Preceded by Charlie Montoyo |
Toronto Blue Jays Manager 2022-present |
Succeeded by current |
Notable Achievements[edit]
- Postseason Appearances: 2 (2022 & 2023/Wild Card)
Year-By-Year Managerial Record[edit]
Further Reading[edit]
- Associated Press: "Blue Jays agree to 3-year deal with manager John Schneider", Yahoo! News, October 21, 2022. [1]
- Ethan Diamandas: "Making sense of the Blue Jays’ decision to fire manager Charlie Montoyo", Yahoo! Sports, July 14, 2022. [2]
- Keegan Matheson: "Schneider earns 1st win as skipper on 'bittersweet' day: 20 years after being drafted by Toronto, interim manager takes helm after Montoyo's dismissal", mlb.com, July 14, 2022. [3]
- Keegan Matheson: "Schneider has all the qualities Blue Jays wanted in manager: Interim tag removed, skipper inks 3-year deal with club option for 2026", mlb.com, October 21, 2022. [4]
- Keegan Matheson: "Schneider makes life-saving play at local restaurant", mlb.com, February 19, 2023. [5]
- Keegan Matheson: "John Schneider considers himself 'just a dude.' As a skipper, he's so much more", mlb.com, March 25, 2025. [6]
- Gregory Strong (The Canadian Press): "Schneider has impressed since being named Blue Jays interim manager last July", Yahoo! News, October 5, 2022. [7]
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