Charles Anthony Ryan Silvera (October 13, 1924 – September 7, 2019) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. Nicknamed Swede, he was part of six

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

championships with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Early years

Silvera was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

He signed with the Yankees in 1942, and played the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

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 Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

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 Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

in his major league debut. He followed that up with a three-for-five performance the next day. His hot bat earned him the backup

job behind

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seas ...

for the 1949 season. A thumb injury to Berra moved him into the starting job for the month of August. He batted .329 with eight

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

while filling in for the future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

r. For the season, he posted career highs in

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

(58),

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

(130) and RBIs (13). The Yankees faced the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

in the

1949 World Series The 1949 World Series featured the 1949 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees and 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the 12th cham ...

. Silvera's only appearance came in game two, and he was held hitless in two at-bats by

Preacher Roe Elwin Charles "Preacher" Roe (February 26, 1916 – November 9, 2008) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals (1938), Pittsburgh Pirates (1944–47), and Brooklyn Dodgers (194 ...

. 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 The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, as he had served as Berra's back up for eight seasons with the Yankees. His only season in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

was interrupted by an ankle sprain in late May that caused him to miss three weeks of the season. 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 The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...

double A affiliate, the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

. 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 The Binghamton Triplets were a minor league baseball team based in Binghamton, New York between 1923 and 1963. The franchise played as members of the New York–Penn League (1923–1937), Eastern League (1938–1963), New York–Penn League ( ...

in 1959, guiding them to a 71-68 record. Following his playing career, Silvera scouted for the Washington Senators. When

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yankees. First known ...

got his first managing job with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

in 1969 he named Silvera his

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

coach and he rejoined Martin with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

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. He was the last survivor among the 12 players who appeared with all five Yankee World Series-winning teams from 1949 to 1953.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Silvera, Charlie 1924 births 2019 deaths Atlanta Braves scouts Baseball players from San Francisco Binghamton Triplets managers Binghamton Triplets players Chicago Cubs players Chicago Cubs scouts Detroit Tigers coaches Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball catchers Miami Marlins scouts Military personnel from California Minnesota Twins coaches New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players New York Yankees players New York Yankees scouts People from Millbrae, California Baseball players from San Mateo County, California Portland Beavers players Salt Lake City Bees players Texas Rangers coaches Washington Senators (1961–1971) scouts Wellsville Yankees players American military personnel of World War II American people of Portuguese descent 20th-century American sportsmen