Charlie Silvera

Charlie Silvera
Charlie Silvera
	Catcher
	Born: October 13, 1924; San Francisco, California, U.S.
	Died: September 7, 2019 (aged 94); Millbrae, California, U.S.
	Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
	September 29, 1948, for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
	September 28, 1957, for the Chicago Cubs
MLB statistics
Batting average	.282
Home runs	1
Runs batted in	52
	Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
	New York Yankees (1948–1956); Chicago Cubs (1957);
Career highlights and awards
	6× World Series champion (1949–1953, 1956);

Charles Anthony Ryan Silvera (October 13, 1924 – September 7, 2019) was an American Major League Baseball player and coach. Nicknamed Swede, he was part of six World Series championships with the New York Yankees.

Early years

Silvera was born in San Francisco, California He signed with the Yankees in 1942, and played the outfield for the Wellsville Yankees at just seventeen years old. He missed the 1943–1945 seasons serving in World War II. When he returned for the 1946 season, he was converted to catcher with the triple A Kansas City Blues.

New York Yankees

After three more seasons in the minors, Silvera debuted with the Yankees on September 29, 1948, and went three-for-four with a triple in his major league debut.^[1] He followed that up with a three-for-five performance the next day.^[2]

His hot bat earned him the backup catcher job behind Yogi Berra for the 1949 season. A thumb injury to Berra moved him into the starting job for the month of August.^[3] He batted .329 with eight runs batted in while filling in for the future Hall of Famer. For the season, he posted career highs in games played (58), at-bats (130) and RBIs (13).

The Yankees faced the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1949 World Series. Silvera's only appearance came in game two, and he was held hitless in two at-bats by Preacher Roe.^[4] Despite having been part of six World championship teams, this was the only World Series appearance he would ever make.

Chicago Cubs

Having only been used a total of 21 times in the 1955 and 1956 seasons, Silvera was dealt by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for fellow catcher Harry Chiti before the 1957 season. Cubs equipment manager Yosh Kawano decided to issue him Yogi Berra's number 8 upon his arrival in Chicago, as he had served as Berra's back up for eight seasons with the Yankees.^[5] His only season in the National League was interrupted by an ankle sprain in late May that caused him to miss three weeks of the season.^[6] He was released by the Cubs after just one season in which he batted .208 with two RBIs in 26 games.

Post playing career

Upon his release from the Cubs, Silvera returned to the Yankees as a player/manager for their Southern Association double A affiliate, the New Orleans Pelicans. With his team mired in last place, he was replaced at the helm in the middle of the 1958 season by fellow player/manager, Ray Yochim. He repeated the player manager role with the Binghamton Triplets in 1959, guiding them to a 71-68 record.

Following his playing career, Silvera scouted for the Washington Senators.

When Billy Martin got his first managing job with the Minnesota Twins in 1969 he named Silvera his bullpen coach and he rejoined Martin with the Detroit Tigers from 1971 to 1973 and the Texas Rangers in 1974 and 1975.

In later years he scouted for a number of teams, including the Cubs and the Marlins. He received his seventh World Championship ring as a scout for the Marlins in 1997.

Silvera died at age 94 on September 7, 2019.^[7] He was the last survivor among the 12 players who appeared with all five Yankee World Series-winning teams from 1949 to 1953.^[8]

References

^ "New York Yankees 4, Philadelphia Athletics 2". Baseball-Reference.com. September 29, 1948.
^ "New York Yankees 9, Philadelphia Athletics 7". Baseball-Reference.com. September 30, 1948.
^ "Yankees Lose Key Man Berra for Three Weeks". The Miami News. August 6, 1949. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
^ "1949 World Series, Game Two". Baseball-Reference.com. October 6, 1949.
^ "Cubs Have Yogi's Number". The Milwaukee Journal. March 10, 1957. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
^ "Braves Split With Chicago". The Lewiston Daily Sun. May 31, 1957.
^ Charlie Silvera, San Francisco native and longtime Yankees backup catcher, dies at 94
^ Goldstein, Richard (September 10, 2019). "Charlie Silvera, Seldom-Seen Yankees Catcher, Is Dead at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2019.

External links

Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet

Preceded by Bob Oldis	Minnesota Twins bullpen coach 1969	Succeeded by Buck Rodgers
Preceded by Len Okrie	Detroit Tigers bullpen coach 1971–1973	Succeeded by Jim Hegan
Preceded by n/a	Texas Rangers bullpen coach 1974–1975	Succeeded by Pat Corrales

[1] "New York Yankees 4, Philadelphia Athletics 2". Baseball-Reference.com. September 29, 1948.

[2] "New York Yankees 9, Philadelphia Athletics 7". Baseball-Reference.com. September 30, 1948.

[3] "Yankees Lose Key Man Berra for Three Weeks". The Miami News. August 6, 1949. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2016.

[4] "1949 World Series, Game Two". Baseball-Reference.com. October 6, 1949.

[5] "Cubs Have Yogi's Number". The Milwaukee Journal. March 10, 1957. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2016.

[6] "Braves Split With Chicago". The Lewiston Daily Sun. May 31, 1957.

[7] Charlie Silvera, San Francisco native and longtime Yankees backup catcher, dies at 94

[8] Goldstein, Richard (September 10, 2019). "Charlie Silvera, Seldom-Seen Yankees Catcher, Is Dead at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2019.

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v t e New York Yankees 1949 World Series champions
1 Snuffy Stirnweiss 5 Joe DiMaggio 6 Bobby Brown 7 Cliff Mapes 8 Yogi Berra 10 Phil Rizzuto 11 Joe Page 14 Gene Woodling 15 Tommy Henrich 17 Vic Raschi 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Billy Johnson 25 Hank Bauer 27 Johnny Lindell 28 Tommy Byrne 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 36 Johnny Mize 38 Gus Niarhos 42 Jerry Coleman
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 31 Jim Turner 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season Dodgers–Yankees rivalry Subway Series

v t e New York Yankees 1950 World Series champions
5 Joe DiMaggio 6 Bobby Brown 7 Cliff Mapes 8 Yogi Berra 10 Phil Rizzuto (AL MVP) 11 Joe Page 12 Billy Martin 14 Gene Woodling 15 Tommy Henrich 17 Vic Raschi 19 Whitey Ford 21 Fred Sanford 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Billy Johnson 25 Hank Bauer 26 Tom Ferrick 28 Tommy Byrne 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 32 Ralph Houk 35 Joe Ostrowski 36 Johnny Mize 38 Johnny Hopp 40 Jackie Jensen 41 Joe Collins 42 Jerry Coleman
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 31 Jim Turner 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season

v t e New York Yankees 1951 World Series champions
1 Billy Martin 5 Joe DiMaggio 6 Bobby Brown 7 Mickey Mantle 8 Yogi Berra (AL MVP) 10 Phil Rizzuto 11 Johnny Sain 12 Gil McDougald (AL ROY) 14 Gene Woodling 17 Vic Raschi 19 Spec Shea 20 Art Schallock 21 Bob Kuzava 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Stubby Overmire 25 Hank Bauer 28 Tom Morgan 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 32 Ralph Houk 35 Joe Ostrowski 36 Johnny Mize 38 Johnny Hopp 40 Bobby Hogue 41 Joe Collins 42 Jerry Coleman
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 15 Tommy Henrich 31 Jim Turner 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season Giants–Yankees rivalry Subway Series

v t e New York Yankees 1952 World Series champions
1 Billy Martin 7 Mickey Mantle 8 Yogi Berra 9 Hank Bauer 10 Phil Rizzuto 11 Johnny Sain 12 Gil McDougald 14 Gene Woodling 17 Vic Raschi 18 Ray Scarborough 21 Bob Kuzava 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Tom Gorman 25 Irv Noren 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 32 Ralph Houk 36 Johnny Mize 40 Ewell Blackwell 41 Joe Collins
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 31 Jim Turner 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season Dodgers–Yankees rivalry Subway Series

v t e New York Yankees 1953 World Series champions
1 Billy Martin 7 Mickey Mantle 8 Yogi Berra 9 Hank Bauer 10 Phil Rizzuto 11 Johnny Sain 12 Gil McDougald 14 Gene Woodling 15 Joe Collins 16 Whitey Ford 17 Vic Raschi 18 Jim McDonald 21 Bob Kuzava 22 Allie Reynolds 24 Tom Gorman 25 Irv Noren 29 Charlie Silvera 30 Ed Lopat 36 Johnny Mize 38 Art Schallock 45 Don Bollweg
Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 2 Frankie Crosetti 31 Jim Turner 32 Ralph Houk 33 Bill Dickey
Regular season Dodgers–Yankees rivalry Subway Series