Modesto Glow Riders name former SF Giants player, Gold Glove winner as manager
The Modesto-based Pioneer Baseball League team, newly named the Glow Riders, announced six-time Gold Glove award winner and former San Francisco Giant J.T. Snow as its manager on Thursday.
Snow played first base for most of his career and won the premier position-player award six consecutive times from 1995 to 2000 as both a California Angel and a Giant.
His career slashes (batting average, on base percentage and slugging) were .268/.357/.427. Snow initially was drafted by the New York Yankees in 1992 but was traded to the Angels the next season. He played for the Angels from 1993 to 1996. He was traded in 1997 to the Giants, where he played until 2005.
Snow’s tenure with the Giants included a World Series appearance in 2002. The Giants lost to Snow’s former team, the Angels, in game seven. Snow had a .407 batting average in that series. He retired a Giant in 2008.
Since 2024, Snow had been the bench manager for the Oakland Ballers, which made headlines for replacing the Oakland Athletics following their departure for Las Vegas via Sacramento. The Ballers won the Pioneer League Championship in 2025.
Snow’s was announced at a press conference held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in downtown Modesto. During his address, Snow covered how he was going to roster the team, his style-of-play philosophy and his approach to community engagement.
Snow said he did his research into the history of baseball in the area and called it “a great baseball town.”
“We’re an independent baseball team and we don’t have any affiliation with any major league team, so we’re going to have an affiliation with the people of Modesto and the fans of Modesto,” he said.
The press conference also announced Alex Leach as the team’s pitching coach. Leach is the head coach for Modesto Junior College’s Pirates baseball team.
Team name controversy
The Modesto team faced backlash following its announcement of the name Glow Riders. Fans took to social media to express their disdain for the name and confusion over the voting process.
The top two vote-getters were Graffiti and Harvesters, each receiving 469 votes. However, Glow Riders received more votes from different people, according to an official team press release.
The release stated the other names had “partisans who repeatedly voted.” The six names voters could choose from were: Graffiti, Bombers, Harvesters, Monster Trucks, 99ers and Glow Riders.
Asked about the name, Snow said he approved of it but, ultimately, it wasn’t up to him. “I like it. We’ve talked a lot about it. It might get a little pushback. … I love the colors, I love everything about it. I think there’s something special to have a name that is synonymous with Modesto.”
In response to the online backlash, Heller organized a beer-hall caucus Wednesday night at Sidelines Whiskeyjacks to hear feedback from the community.
Heller said Glow Riders, in one way or another, is here to stay but he hasn’t decided whether it would be the primary or secondary name.
“We are deciding right now whether the Glow Riders is going to be our primary name or our alternate identity, but we will be playing as the Glow Riders,” said Heller. “We’re not changing, right? (But) we may adopt a new primary.”
Heller said he wants to keep something that makes the Modesto area’s Latino community feel involved in the team. Glow Riders is a nod to the low-riding car culture synonymous with the city.
“The Latino community is a critically important part of this community and our marketing efforts, right? So, we’re gonna find that right balance,” said Heller.
The press conference was attended by Mayor Sue Zwahlen and City Councilmembers Jeremiah Williams, Chris Ricci and David Wright.
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 11:27 AM.
