Frank Silvanic

Frank J. Silvanic


Born:
December 13, 1917
DuPont, PA

Died:
July 31, 2000
Johnson City, NY


Career
1935-36 Johnson City High School - New York (High School)
1936-37 Johnson City High School - New York (High School)
1937-38 Binghamton (NYPA)
1938-39 Wilkes-Barre Barons (ABL)
1938-39 Troy Haymakers (ABL)
1938-39 Binghamton (NYPA)

Silvanic was a very talented and promising baseball player coming out of Johnson City High School where he starred on the court as well as the Diamond. After graduating, he signed to play baseball with Bassett in the Bi-State League. We would move on to Butler in the Yankees farm system, and the young player was labelled as a can't-miss prospect. In 1938, he tore up the Mid-Atlantic League with Akron, hitting .363 and topping the league with 35 home runs. Only 20 years old, the future seemed bright. However, appendicitis in 1939 slowed his ascent. He had played some professional basketball in the off-season for those two years, but his illness and inherent statistical fallback forced him to focus on baseball, the sport with the most promise.

Bad luck plagued him again in 1940, when in the middle of another fine season in the Yankees farm system, this time with Binghamton, we was struck in the head with a pitch in the first game of a doubleheader. Despite being carried off the field, Silvanic insisted on playing in the nightcap, and his decision to do so affected his play the rest of the season as his performance plummeted. More injuries befell him through the early 1940's and Silvanic never rose higher than AA ball. He would eventually quit the game and take employment with IBM, retiring from that outfit in 1975.

Frank and his wife, Helen, had two sons.

Married Helen Gudinavage (1917-1992) in 1940

Source:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Frankie_Silvanic

Stats:
http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/frank-silvanic/