He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the Kansas City Athletics (1959–60), Baltimore Orioles (1961–67), Chicago White Sox (1968), Cleveland Indians (1968–69) and Milwaukee Brewers (1970).

His professional baseball career began in 1953 in the New York Yankees' organization, when he led the Class D Sooner State League in batting average (.432) and hits (240).

In a 2013 retrospective on Snyder's time with the Orioles, the Baltimore Sun called him the "unsung hero of the '66 Series" and "a sharp-fielding outfielder ... whose glove served the team down the stretch" of the 1966 American League pennant race.

[2] Then, in the World Series opening game, "he saved two Dodgers runs with a dramatic lunging catch of John Roseboro's sinking liner" in centerfield, the Sun said.

[2] With the Orioles needing to strengthen its pitching staff, Snyder was traded along with Luis Aparicio and John Matias to the Chicago White Sox for Don Buford, Bruce Howard and Roger Nelson on November 29, 1967.