Miñoso, Minnie (1925?–)

Major League left fielder and occasional third baseman Minnie Miñoso (Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta) was born, by his account, in El Perico, Cuba, some 108 miles from Havana, on November 29, 1925, though many official records mark the event three years earlier. An Afro-Cuban of humble socio-economic origins, he signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 after playing professionally in Cuba and the U.S. Negro leagues; between 1964 and 1976 he also played and managed in Mexico.

Although he played for four Major League teams, he is most often associated with the Chicago White Sox, for whom he starred (1951–1957, 1960–1961, 1964, 1976, 1980) and who retired his number 9; he was later a White Sox coach and roving goodwill ambassador. During his seventeen Major League seasons he participated in 1,835 games, hit 186 home runs, and had a .298 batting average. He was Sporting News Rookie of the Year (1951), a seven-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove winner, and led the American League at least one year in each of these categories: hits, doubles, triples, hit by pitch, sacrifice flies, or stolen bases.

In 1976 he became the second-oldest player to get a base hit in the majors and, thanks to appearances with the independent Northern League team the St. Paul Saints in 1993 and 2003, he appeared in professional baseball games during seven decades. In achieving all this, he recalled that he had faced and experienced the same discrimination and bias as others of his race, culture, and class. An outspoken critic of Fidel Castro and communism, he never returned to Cuba after 1961. The first true Latin American star in the majors, the man known as the Cuban Comet or Mr. White Sox became an inspiring hero for an emerging generation of (especially black) Latino players and a beloved fan favorite in Chicago.

See alsoSports .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lindberg, Richard C. The White Sox Encyclopedia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997.

Miñoso,Minnie. "Introduction." In White Sox: The Illustrated Story, by Richard Whittingham. Coal Valley, IL: Quality Sports Publications, 1997. Numerous references to Miñoso also in text.

Miñoso, Minnie, with Fernando Fernández and Robert Kleinfelder. Extra Innings: My Life in Baseball. Chicago: Regnery Gateway, 1983.

Miñoso, Minnie, with Herb Fagen. Just Call Me Minnie: My Six Decades in Baseball. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing, 1994.

                                   Joseph L. Arbena