The Editor’s Minnie Minoso baseball cards, 1960 and 1961 (Click to enlarge)The great Minnie Minoso, nicknamed “The Cuban Comet” and known to many as “Mr. White Sox” has passed away at the age of 89. Minoso was the first black player for the Chicago White Sox, making his debut in late 1948, hitting a home run in his first major-league at-bat. He led the American League in stolen bases three times, and was a member of the so called “Go-Go Sox”, known for their aggressive baserunning style.
Minnie batted over .300 eight times, finishing his career, like the NY Yankee legend Mickey Mantle, with a .298 lifetime average.
Minoso was from Cuba, and laid the groundwork for the growing number of players from that island nation playing in the game today, including a hometown favorite in Los Angeles, Yasiel Puig, whose own debut was not unlike that of Minoso. But perhaps above all of his other accolades and accomplishments, Minoso will likely be remembered most for his longevity, becoming the oldest player to get a major-league hit, at the age of 53, and for becoming the first player to play in five decades.
Editor’s note: I grew up idolizing Mickey Mantle and the Yankees, but like any young fan, had favorite players on the opposing teams. For the Chicago White Sox, it was Minnie Minoso. The baseball cards above, from 1960 and 1961, were ones that I clipped off the back of cereal boxes in my grandmother’s kitchen in downtown Detroit at age six and seven. I dug out the binders of my old baseball cards that I kept from my youth, hoping that I could find those of Minnie Minoso. Like magic, the binder flipped open to the page with Minnie Minoso, alongside Willie Mays. It seems appropriate that Minnie shares the page with Willie Mays, as the two were known for leading the resurgence of speed as an offensive weapon in the 1950s, Minnie in the American League and Willie in the National League, both following the footsteps of baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson.
Minnie Minoso and Willie Mays, sharing a page in the Editor’s book of baseball cards. (Click to enlarge)
A few years later, in 1964, at the age of nine, I would play in my first fastpitch game, something that I have continued to do ever since. As the years of playing fastpitch, rolled on, I have often joked that I was continuing to play to “keep my Minnie Minoso streak alive” (my goal of playing in five decades like he did in baseball) This past August, I reached that goal, pitching in Ernie Marez’s Angula Memorial tournament in Corona, CA, pitching at the age of 59. So while I share a touch of sadness in Minnie’s passing, I choose to remember him for his accomplishments in life, not only as a great ballplayer but a great man. With birthday number 60 coming up next Saturday, the inspiration of Minnie Minoso will live on, as it does for all of the over 40 players dusting off the bat and glove for the upcoming season, determined to get in at least one more.
CHICAGO — Minnie Minoso, who hit a two-run home run in his first at-bat when he became major league baseball’s first black player in Chicago in 1951, has died, the Cook County medical examiner said Sunday.
“We have lost our dear friend and a great man,” White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf said in a release. “Many tears are falling.” Click the ESPN link for the complete story and photos.
“Minnie Miñoso (Saturnino Orestes Armas “Minnie” Miñoso Arrieta, November 29, 1925 – March 1, 2015), nicknamed “The Cuban Comet” and “Mr. White Sox”, was a Cuban-American professional baseball player. He began his career in the Negro league in 1946, becoming an All-Star third baseman with the New York Cubans in 1947 and 1948. He was signed by the Cleveland Indians after the 1948 season as baseball’s color line slowly fell. In 1949, he became the first black Cuban in the major leagues, and went on to become a seven-time All-Star. In 1951, as a rookie left fielder for the Chicago White Sox, he became the first black player in White Sox franchise history, and one of the first Latin Americans to be named to a major league All-Star team.” Click the Wikipedia link above for the complete bio.
