About Brian Schneider
Brian Schneider was born on November 26, 1976 in Jacksonville, Florida. Schneider played high school baseball at Northampton Area High School in Pennsylvania's highly competitive East Penn Conference (now known as the Lehigh Valley Conference). He was named Player of the Year in Lehigh Valley in both 1994 and 1995.
Schneider was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 1995 June draft. In 1997, Schneider emerged as a premiere defensive player while accumulating solid offensive numbers and was named to the mid-season All-Star team. After making a strong impression at the Expos spring training in 2000, Schneider was called up to the majors.
Schneider made his major league debut on May 26, 2000 at San Diego. In the 2001 season Schneider split his time between the major league and the minors, but he made the most of his opportunities when he was given playing time with the Expos. In 2003, his fourth season with the Expos, Schneider caught a majority of the club's games for the first time, and was behind the plate for a total of 841 innings. He was ranked fifth in the league for fielding.
The 2004 season saw Schneider post career highs in hits. For the second straight season, he led major league catchers in throwing out base-stealers. Schneider finished the season setting a new franchise single-season record for a catcher. Most notably, Schneider was behind the plate catching when Barry Bonds hit his record-breaking 756th career home run on August 7, 2007.
On November 30, 2007 the Washington Nationals traded Schneider to the New York Mets. Schneider was a member of the USA team during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
On November 6, 2004 Schneider married Jordan Sproat. The couple had their first child, Tatum, on March 3, 2007. On April 20, 2009 the family welcomed a son, Calin Duncan. The Schneider family currently lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
After starting a family of his own, Schneider wanted to give back to the community. In 2008, he created Brian Schneider’s Catching for Kids Foundation. The foundation was established to support children and their participation in sports by providing funding and creative programming. The goal of the organization is to enable children of all backgrounds and physical abilities to enjoy the games they love.
