Silverman Plays a Key Role Behind the Scenes for the Blue Jays

As the Toronto Blue Jays close out their historic run in Buffalo tonight, former Canisius outfielder Perry Silverman will undoubtedly remain busy behind the scenes, getting the team ready to hit the road for a seven-game road swing before helping pack up the Jays' gear as the team returns to its home in Toronto.

Silverman, who played for the Golden Griffins from 2007-10 and then served as a graduate assistant on the baseball coaching staff from 2011-12, works in the Blue Jays' clubhouse, where he handles everything from laundry service to equipment to dining recommendations. This line of work runs in the family, as Silverman's father, John, is the long-time equipment manager for the Miami Marlins.

Prior to the Blue Jays' sweep of the Texas Rangers last weekend, Silverman was able to take a few moments to discuss his life in the big leagues and share some of the things he has learned working in a professional baseball clubhouse.

GoGriffs.com: What is your job title, and how long have you been with the Blue Jays organization?
Perry Silverman: I am a clubhouse assistant for the home clubhouse for the Toronto Blue Jays. I have been in this position for four years now, and I also spent one year in the same role for the visiting clubhouse in Toronto.

GoGriffs.com: How did you get started working for the Blue Jays?
Silverman: After I left Canisius and moved back to Canada, the Blue Jays began playing exhibition games in Montreal and I got a gig working in the clubhouse for the Jays organization. At the time, I had chosen to go back to school for carpentry and began working in that field, so the chance to work in professional baseball a couple days in the year was a nice change of pace for me.

GoGriffs.com: What types of responsibilities do you have as a clubhouse assistant?
Silverman: Working as a clubhouse assistant is kind of like any service industry job, but my daily focus is to help the players, coaches and team support staff. The two biggest responsibilities I have are dealing with equipment and laundry. But I also help out with any personal errands, while keeping all the clubhouse areas stocked and clean.

GoGriffs.com: What would you say has been the best part of your job?
Silverman: The best part is building relationships with these people in the professional baseball world. We have great players and coaches who really respect who we are and what we do for the organization, and they show a great amount of trust in us to take care of whatever they need to get done. Our manager [Charlie Montoyo] is an amazing dude and he loves salsa music. He has a lot of instruments set up in his office, and sometimes he brings me in to jam with him, that's definitely pretty cool. Also, having time off to travel in the offseason is a great perk of the job. I started traveling the world and this job allows me to do that. I am very grateful for that opportunity.

GoGriffs.com: As a former player and coach at Canisius, what did you learn here that you use in your job today?
Silverman: Pretty much everything. The important ones are work ethic and time management, but I feel like I have been able to thrive at this job by just being a good dude, in the same way you should be a good teammate. If a teammate needs help you help him out, and learning to trust your teammates is just like the players having to trust us as the clubhouse staff. You are dealing with people who are very prominent in society and with that comes a huge level of trust. Also, something I learned was get off of social media. I remember my first sport administration class with Dr. Shawn O'Rourke - he told us to get off of Facebook and get set-up with a strong profile on LinkedIn.

GoGriffs.com: Obviously, the time here is running out and the team is headed back to Toronto, but tell us how has it been for you being back in Buffalo? How has the experience been for you at work and in your personal life.
Silverman: It has been incredible. Many of my former teammates from outside of Buffalo stayed here after college, they got married and then they had kids. Reconnecting with those guys and their families has been amazing. Buffalo was an easy sell to a lot of the Blue Jays players – there is so much great food and cost of living is really low compared to other cities in the league. Sports fans here, not just baseball fans, have embraced the team and it has been really nice to have a home field advantage away from home.

GoGriffs.com: What would you tell people who are looking to work in the professional sports world?
Silverman: Well, first and foremost, I learned that jobs in professional sports are hard to come by and everybody wants them. That is why I feel so grateful to be in this position. The reason I am here isn't necessarily because I knew more, or was better than anyone else, it was because I treat people well. I think that to do this job well, or any job, you have to have great people skills and you need be authentic. If you genuinely care about helping others, people appreciate it and they take notice of that. If you are in it for your own selfish purposes, everyone will see right through you. I wish I could share cool stories about players, but if I did, their trust in me would be gone. There are a lot of things you see and hear and deal with that are just best kept untold.

Another cool part of my job is when a player gets called up to the majors for the first time in their career, we are the first ones to greet them. We get to share that exciting moment together. It is something that a lot of athletes never get to experience, so being able to have time with them in that setting is really unbelievable.

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