Charles Anthony Ryan Silvera (October 13, 1924 – September 7, 2019) was an American Major League Baseball player and

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. 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 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 * In ...

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 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. He batted .329 with eight runs batted in 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. Basebal ...

(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 during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

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

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

in the

1949 World Series The 1949 World Series featured the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the 12th championship in team history. This victory would start a record ...

. Silvera's only appearance came in game two, and he was held hitless in two at-bats by Preacher Roe. 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 part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

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. 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. 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

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. 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 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) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in 1969 he named Silvera his

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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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

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 Sportspeople 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