Charlie Silvera

Charles Anthony Ryan Silvera (born October 13, 1924) is a retired 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, and attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School. He signed with the Yankees in 1942, and played the outfield for the Wellsville Yankees at just seventeen years old. He missed the 1943 through 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. 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 Famer. For the season, he posted career highs in games played (58), at-bats (130) and RBIs (13).

Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium is a stadium, used mainly for baseball and soccer, located in The Bronx, New York City. It is the home ballpark for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the home stadium for New York City FC of Major League Soccer (MLS). The $2.3 billion stadium, built with $1.2 billion in public subsidies, replaced the original Yankee Stadium. It is one block north of the original, on the 24-acre former site of Macombs Dam Park; the 8-acre site of the original stadium is now a public park called Heritage Field. The first game at the new Yankee Stadium was a preseason exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs on April 3, 2009; the Yankees won, 7–4. The first regular-season game was played on April 16, a 10–2 Yankee loss to the Cleveland Indians.

The stadium incorporates replicas of some design elements from the original Yankee Stadium. Although stadium construction began in August 2006, the project spanned many years and faced many controversies, including the high public cost and the loss of public parkland. The overall price tag makes the new Yankee Stadium the most expensive stadium ever built.