Thomas Carmen Silicato (born April 13, 1946) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He played a total of 13 seasons in the minor leagues, mostly in the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

organization (11 total), but also in the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

and Texas Rangers organizations. He is a member of the

Reading Phillies Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame.

Career

Silicato played all of his career (13 years) in the minor league system -- mostly with the Phillies -- where he made it to the highest level of Triple A for 4 seasons. Out of high school, and after deciding not to attend Delaware, he was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 1965 by then-Phils scout

Ruly Carpenter Robert Ruliph Morgan "Ruly" Carpenter III (June 10, 1940 – September 13, 2021) was an American businessman and baseball executive. He was the principal owner and president of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1981. Early life Carpenter ...

whose family were the current owners of the Philadelphia Phillies. He played as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

his first few years, then moved to second base for the remainder of his career. He also took part in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

for several years. During his career he was managed by several former major leaguers, including Dallas Green (another Delaware native) and

Hall of Famer 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 fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Jim Bunning James Paul David Bunning (October 23, 1931 – May 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher and politician who represented Kentucky in both chambers of the United States Congress. He was the sole Major League Baseball athlete to ha ...

. He holds several yearly records for several teams. After his retirement in 1978, Silicato played several years in the popular Delaware Semi Pro league which always had several former minor and major league players. He currently coaches a men's 30-and-over baseball team in the league he formed in 2010, the

Judy Johnson William Julius "Judy" Johnson (October 26, 1899 – June 15, 1989) was an American professional third baseman and manager whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937. Slight of build, Johnson never developed as ...

league, which plays games in and around

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

Awards

* Inducted into the

Hall of Fame in 1995
* Inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2004

Personal life

Silicato was born in

to Carmen and Mary (Vilone) Silicato. His father was a custom home builder and mother a homemaker. He also has a younger sister Sandra who was born in 1949. He is married to June (Schenck) for 45 years and has two children, boys Thomas Jr and Joseph. He attended

Salesianum School Salesianum School is a Catholic independent school for boys located in Wilmington, Delaware. It is run independently within the Diocese of Wilmington and is operated by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. The current enrollment is about 930 st ...

(1960-64) where he was a standout football, basketball and baseball player. He is also an avid golfer and bowler, having bowled two 300 games and a 299. Upon graduation he was strongly recruited by several NCAA schools including

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

where football coach

Tubby Raymond Harold R. "Tubby" Raymond (November 14, 1926 – December 8, 2017) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Delaware from 1966 to 2001, compiling a record of 300–119–3 ...

was the school's baseball head coach.

References

2004 Inductees - Delaware Sports Hall of Fame

Reading Fightin Phils

External links

Reading Fightin Phils Record Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silicato, Thomas 1946 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Wilmington, Delaware Baseball second basemen Baseball shortstops Baseball third basemen Eugene Emeralds players Evansville Triplets players Huron Phillies players Petroleros de Poza Rica players Raleigh-Durham Phillies players Reading Phillies players Spartanburg Phillies players Tidewater Tides players Toledo Mud Hens players Trois-Rivières Aigles players San Antonio Brewers players Salesianum School alumni