Salvador Anthony Yvars (February 20, 1924 – December 10, 2008) was a

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 cat ...

. He played all or part of eight seasons 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 (A ...

, with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

from 1947 to 1953 and the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

from 1953 to 1954. Born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's Little Italy to a

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the El Carche comarca in Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance language also known as Catal ...

gravedigger and a Sicilian laundress, he was a three-sport star at

White Plains High School White Plains Senior High School is a high school in the White Plains Public Schools system of White Plains, New York, United States. It was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a School of Excellence in 1986–1987. The school's code ...

, playing football, basketball, and baseball. He originally signed with the Giants in 1942, and enlisted in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

shortly afterward. During his time in the Army, Yvars was effectively a test dummy, with him saying of his ability to handle the tests, "I could take six and a half G's without a pressure helmet." After World War II, Yvars again played for the Giants' farm system. He played for Manchester of the New England League during the 1946 season, and the

Jersey City Jerseys {{unreferenced, date=January 2023 The Jersey City Jerseys was a minor league baseball team based in Jersey City, New Jersey that played in the International League for two seasons, 1960 and 1961. It was the AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

during the 1947 season. He made his major league debut on September 27, 1947 in the only game he played that season for the Giants. His lone hit of the season came off of Schoolboy Rowe, a single to left field. In 1948, Yvars played in 15 games and had a batting average of .211. He played three games in 1949 and nine in 1950 for the Giants. During the 1951 New York Giants season, Yvars was the backup catcher behind Wes Westrum, and played in 25 games, hitting .317 during the season. During Game Six of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

, he lined out to right field for the final out as the Yankees took the series. Yvars is best remembered as the player on the New York Giants who relayed stolen signals to his teammates awaiting in the batters box during the 1951 pennant-winning season. In the 1980s, he said he wrote a memoir titled ''How We Stole the Pennant'', but lost his publishing deal, he claimed, when he refused to detail the personal peccadilloes of teammates. The Giants traded Ivars to St. Louis in 1953. He retired the next year, and worked as an investment advisor for 50 years. He died in

Valhalla, New York Valhalla is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The name was in ...

from

amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weig ...

at the age of 84, survived by his wife, Antoinette; his son, David; daughters Diane, Donna and Deborah; a brother, Jack; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.Sal Yvars Dies at 84; Revealed Baseball Scheme
''New York Times'' (December 11, 2008), retrieved October 17, 2016. In 210 games over eight seasons, Yvars posted a .244 batting average (102-for-418) with 41 runs, 10

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 42 RBI. Defensively, he recorded a .987

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

. Yvars is interred in the

Gate of Heaven Cemetery Gate of Heaven Cemetery, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City, was established in 1917 at 10 West Stevens Ave. in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, as a Roman Catholic burial site. Among its famous residents i ...

in Hawthorne, New York.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yvars, Sal 1924 births 2008 deaths American sportspeople of Italian descent American people of Spanish descent Baseball players from New York (state) Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) Deaths from amyloidosis Jersey City Giants players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball catchers Manchester Giants players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players New York Giants (NL) players People from Valhalla, New York St. Louis Cardinals players White Plains High School alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II