Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker was complimentary of the environment at Citizens Bank Park before Friday afternoon’s Opening Day matchup against the Phillies, but declined to get further into controversial comments he made in a radio appearance about the treatment he claims family received last NLDS in Philadelphia.
In a recent interview on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta, Snitker said that his wife made a vow after last postseason that she will never attend a game at Citizens Bank Park again.
Snitker said his family won’t be in attendance Friday, but that’s because his wife is babysitting and his grandchildren are in school. He says they wouldn’t have attended any Opening Day game unless it was at home in Truist Park.
When asked Friday what was said or done to make his wife and family feel unsafe last postseason, Snitker dodged the question.
“I’m not gonna get into all of that,” Snitker said in his pregame media availability. “Let’s talk about today.”
The unwillingness to discuss Citizens Bank Park’s environment was a departure from how open Snitker was to having the conversation earlier this month when asked about the most hostile road environments.
“It is Philly by far, where we’re going, that is by far the most hostile crowd,” Snitker said. “I know after the playoffs last year, my wife’s like, ‘I don’t care what you guys are doing, I’m not going back there’.
“It’s rough there,” Snitker continued. “And they don’t seem to mind, either, quite honestly. It was rough on them all last year to the point where it was concerning.”
Later in the interview, one of the hosts vaguely suggested that he’s known people who have had negative experiences wearing opposing jerseys to games in Philadelphia. Snitker said he’s specifically instructed his family not to wear Braves attire to Citizens Bank Park.
“I tell her don’t wear anything with Braves on it either because you’re a marked person,” Snitker continued. “And that home team, they don’t seem to mind that [it’s] our wives — it’s our wives, girlfriends, and families. You know what I mean? Inappropriate stuff being said around the children and things like that and nobody seems to care.”
But again, when Snitker had the chance to give specific examples of verbal or any other type of abuse Friday, he elected not to do so.
Snitker’s Braves have won six consecutive NL East titles. But since winning the 2021 World Series, the Braves have been upset by the Phillies in the NLDS in consecutive years, reigniting the rivalry between the two NL East foes.
For his part, Phillies skipper Rob Thomson likes, within reason, that opposing teams don’t look forward to coming to Citizens Bank Park.
“Absolutely. I do,” Thomson said when asked if he likes hearing that opposing teams view Philadelphia as a hostile environment to come into.
“I don’t want to see anybody get hurt, but I do, I love the atmosphere.”
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