Former Met of the Day: Brian Schneider (2008-2009)

Brian Duncan Schneider was born November 26, 1976 at Jacksonville, Florida. He was drafted by the Expos in the 5th round of the 1995 draft after winning two Lehigh Valley Player of the Year Awards in high school. He made the majors in 2000 and played back up catcher to Michael Barrett for three seasons. He took over the position as the organizations regular catcher for five seasons, from Montreal to the move to Washington D.C. Schneider was a solid defensive catcher ranking 5th in the league in fielding percentage in 2003 making only three errors in 709 chances. Each season from 2003-2005 Schneider led all catchers in throwing out would be base stealers and threw out a leading 44% ratio. In 2004 he threw out half of base runners attempting to steal on him, and set an Expos record with a .998 fielding percentage.

He was on team USA in the 2006 World Baseball Classic going 0-6 overall. On August 7th, 2007 he was behind the plate when Barry Bonds hit HR #756 off the Nats Mike Bacsick. That winter he was traded to the Mets along with Ryan Church for Lastings Milledge. Excited about coming to New York, he arrived penciled in as the Mets regular catcher. He played in 110 games, built with a rugged old time style of play, out of the Jerry Grote mold, but not as effective.
He had a three hit game driving in his first Met RBI, on the second day of the ’08 season in Florida. He drove in two more the next day, hit safely in six straight games and 8 out of his first 10. He started out well driving in 15 runs in the first two months of the season. He had a two HR day against his old Nationals team on September 22, 2008 driving in two runs in a crucial Mets win. He finished the year with 9 HRs 38 RBIs 10 doubles and a .250 average.

He began 2009 as the first Met to cross the plate at the new Citi Field scoring on a Luis Castillo base hit. Next he spent almost two months on the DL suffering from a muscle strain in his back. With the wear & tear of being a catcher for a decade, injuries and the emergence of Omir Santos, Schneider only saw playing time in 59 games. He batted a mere .218 with 3 HRs and 24 RBIs. Although he knew his days were numbered in New York, he took the time to mentor Santos and youngster Josh Thole in catching. In his two seasons in New York, Brian was a .244 hitter, but behind the plate he made only six errors in 1142 chances with a .995 fielding percentage.