CHICAGO -- Regardless of how this baseball thing works out, Chicago White Sox pitcher Scott Snodgress has already shown that he has his priorities straight.
Just because he was on his way to a dream of one day pitching in the major leagues after he was selected by the White Sox out of Stanford in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, Snodgress refused to turn his back on his education.
Two quarters short of earning a prestigious Stanford degree in economics, the California native used two consecutive offseasons to finish what he started when he enrolled in the university after attending high school in Yucaipa, Calif.
“My parents had kind of always stressed getting my college degree from the time I was young,” Snodgress said. “That was something that we both wanted, all of us wanted. From the moment I was drafted I still had the intention of going back and finishing up. I only had two quarters to go so it was really not a question for me whether I was going to finish or not.”
Snodgress made it to the major leagues this month, making his major league debut Sept. 3 in a game at Minnesota. He gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning, but the dream of making it officially was his.
As good as it felt to achieve an athletic goal, Snodgress said that earning his Stanford degree was as big as any athletic accomplishment he ever achieved. Because Stanford is on the quarter system, school didn’t start until after the minor league season ended.
“It means a lot to me,” he said of the degree. “It’s something I have to fall back on whenever my baseball career is done. Hopefully I have a long career, but you never know, so that’s something to fall back on. There is the sense of pride knowing you finished what you started there.
“For me, it’s also a relief knowing it’s not hanging over my head. It’s allowed me to really feel like I can focus entirely on baseball now and not have any sense of guilt like I still have to finish my degree.”
Even though his major league career hasn’t opened as he would have hoped (seven runs, four earned for a 21.60 ERA over 1 2/3 innings), he remains highly regarded in the organization. The tall (6-foot-6) left hander posted a 3.89 ERA in 21 starts at Double-A Birmingham this season, improving on the 4.70 ERA he had there in 26 starts in 2013.
The White Sox are loaded with major league caliber left-handed starters, but his time in relief this month could always lead to a bullpen role in the future. If it doesn’t work out, Snodgress has that degree he can put to use, but he doesn’t plan on doing that for some time.
And even when it does come time to use his Stanford studies, Snodgress intends on marrying economics and baseball.
“You never know what sort of opportunities can be presented in baseball,” he said. “There are a lot of people that get into baseball and having just an understanding of econometrics, baseball is becoming so statistically based now that if you have an understanding of that it’s really applicable in baseball. You never know, I might be able to find a job in baseball after this. We’ll see what happens.”