VANCOUVER — After having back surgery in 2006, John Schneider suffered three concussions in the 2007 baseball season — all from foul balls that pounded his mask.

So the Toronto Blue Jays minor-league catcher retired at age 27, became a catching instructor in the Jays organization and spent the past two years managing rookies in the Gulf Coast League.

Now at age 30, Schneider has become the youngest manager in the 10-year history of the short-season Vancouver Canadians.

The C's announced Tuesday that Schneider will lead a new on-field staff that includes Dave Pano as hitting coach and Jim Czajkowski as pitching coach. Schneider replaces former manager Rick Magnante, who managed Vancouver the past five seasons.

Staffing changes were expected after the Canadians switched their affiliation to the Blue Jays from the Oakland A's.

Schneider said his injury problems as a player convinced him to make the jump to coaching and feels managing rookies in Florida the past two years has taught him how to be patient with players.

“I came from playing at the higher levels of minor league ball and major league spring training,” he said in a telephone interview from his home in Lawrenceville, N.J. “You have to remember the kids are just starting out and they're not going to know everything. I learned to become much more relaxed and patient this past season compared with 2009.”

Schneider, who ended his minor league career with Triple-A Syracuse, thinks of himself as a “player's manager” who can relate to what players go through.

“But I'm definitely an aggressive guy when we hit the field,” he said. “I wouldn't say I'm overly aggressive, but I'm definitely trying to get the most out of my players.

“Hopefully I can teach them the daily grind of baseball so the game can slow down for them a bit and allow their ability to just kind of take over.”

Schneider said the Blue Jays organization wants to add speed on the bases so he expects to give base runners a green light to steal whenever possible.

“If we can run, we're going to run like crazy and hopefully put pressure on the defence,” he said.

Schneider said being a catcher was great training for becoming a manager because he constantly thought a couple of pitches ahead and a couple of batters ahead, just like a manager.

He and his wife, Erin, will both make the trek to Vancouver next year and they're looking forward to the cross-continental move.

“We're tremendously excited to be going there. I've never been but I've heard nothing but the best things about the city and the atmosphere at the ball park.”

Schneider worked with Pano in the Gulf Coast League for the past three years but will be hooking up with Czajkowski for the first time.

Pano spent the past two seasons as head coach of the St. Petersburg Titans of the NCAA Suncoast Conference and Czajkowski was most recently a pitching coach with Rome Braves of the South Atlantic League.

bconstantineau@vancouversun.com

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