Saturnino Orestes "Minnie" Armas Arrieta Miñoso (, ; November 29, 1924 – March 1, 2015), nicknamed "the Cuban Comet," was a Cuban professional baseball player. He began his baseball career in the Negro leagues in 1946 and became an All-Star third baseman with the New York Cubans. He was signed by the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB) after the 1948 season as baseball's color line fell. Miñoso went on to become an All-Star left fielder with the Indians and Chicago White Sox. The first Afro-Latino in the major leagues and the first black player in White Sox history, as a 1951 rookie, he was one of the first Latin Americans to play in an MLB All-Star Game.
Miñoso was an American League (AL) All-Star for seven seasons and a Gold Glove winner for three seasons when he was in his 30s.Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Rawlings. Retrieved October 15, 2021. He batted over .300 for eight seasons. He was the AL leader in triples and stolen bases three times each and in hits, doubles, and total bases once each. Willie Mays (179 steals) and Miñoso (167 steals) have been widely credited with leading the resurgence of speed as an offensive weapon in the 1950s. Miñoso was particularly adept at reaching base, leading the AL in times hit by pitch a record ten times, and holding the league mark for career times hit by pitch from 1959 to 1985. Miñoso, as a defensive standout, led the AL left fielders in assists six times and in putouts and double plays four times each. Miñoso was one of the most popular and dynamic players in White Sox franchise history. He helped the "Go-Go" White Sox become one of the premier teams of the 1950s and 1960s. A rare power threat on a team known for speed and defense, Miñoso also held the White Sox record for career home runs from 1956 to 1974.
Miñoso left the major leagues following the 1964 season, but went on playing and managing in Mexico through 1973. He rejoined the White Sox as a coach, and made brief but highly publicized player appearances in 1976 and 1980. He became the third player to get a hit after the age of 50 and the second player to appear in the major leagues in five different decades (Nick Altrock is the other). Miñoso's White Sox uniform number 9 was retired in 1983, and a statue of him was unveiled at U.S. Cellular Field in 2004. Miñoso was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in Exile in 1983, and to the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. In August 2023, the former George B. McClellan Elementary School, in the Bridgeport neighborhood in Chicago, was renamed Minnie Miñoso Academy.
In 2014, Miñoso appeared for the second time as a candidate on the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Golden Era Committee election ballot for possible Hall of Fame consideration in 2015. He and the other candidates including former White Sox teammate Billy Pierce, and two other former players from Cuba, Tony Oliva and Luis Tiant, all missed induction in 2015.National Baseball Hall of Fame, 12/8/2014, "Golden Era Announces Results" Retrieved April 23, 2015 He and Oliva were elected to the Hall of Fame in 2021.
Early life
Miñoso was born in Perico, Cuba near Havana, the son of Carlos Armas and Cecilia Arrieta. His date of birth is often cited as being November 29, 1923; however, his Republic of Cuba 1951 driver's license and his first Topps baseball card(s) 1952/195 list his date of birth as November 29, 1925.Hake's Americana & Collectibles. Republic of Cuba, Fingerprinted Driver Portfolio, No. 185860, 25 May 1951: Date of Birth, Nov. 29, 1923, Age, 27. Retrieved May 5, 2016. The Miñoso baseball card that was handed out by his family to visitors who stopped by to pay their respects for Miñoso at a remembrance held for him at a Chicago church before his funeral has printed on it "1924-2015".ESPN, Chicago White Sox Report, March 6, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015
His father worked in the fields of the sugarcane plantation on which the family lived. His mother had four other children from a previous marriage, and had the surname "Miñoso" from her first husband. While playing with his older brother Francisco, Orestes became referred to as a "Miñoso" too and he did not correct them. Later on, he would legally add "Miñoso" to his name when he became a U.S. citizen. Miñoso grew up playing baseball with two of his brothers and in fact managed his own team while working on his father's plantation, finding players and the necessary equipment himself. In 1941, he moved to Havana to live with his sister and play baseball there.
Baseball playing career
Cuba and Negro leagues Miñoso played professional baseball as a third baseman in Cuba and in the Negro leagues. He signed a contract with the team from the borough of Marianao in 1945 for $150 per month, and moved into the Negro leagues with the New York Cubans the next season and doubled his monthly salary. Batting leadoff for the Cubans, he hit .309 in 1946, and followed up with a .294 average in 1947 as they won the Negro World Series over the Cleveland Buckeyes. He was the starting third baseman for the East in the 1947 All-Star Game, and again in 1948.
Miñoso remained with the Cubans until signing with the Cleveland Indians organization during the 1948 season and starting his minor league career with the Dayton Indians of the Central League, batting .525 in 11 games.
Cleveland Indians On April 19, 1949, Miñoso made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians becoming the first Black Cuban in the major leagues; he drew a walk as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of a 5–1 road loss to the St. Louis Browns. He got his first hit in his next game on May 4, a single off Alex Kellner in the sixth inning of a 4–3 win over the Philadelphia Athletics. The next day, he hit his first home run, off Jack Kramer in the second inning of a 7–3 win over the Boston Red Sox. Miñoso had little further chance to make an impression, however; the Indians were signing black players more aggressively than any other team in the American League, but coming off their victory in the 1948 World Series, they were the strongest team in baseball. They had little opportunity to get Miñoso into the lineup as a rookie, as they played Ken Keltner at third base, and he had only 16 at bats through May 13 before being sent to the minor leagues. Miñoso was sent to the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League for the rest of the 1949 season and all of 1950, batting .297 the first year and following up with a .339 average and 115 runs batted in (RBIs).
Miñoso rejoined the Indians to start the 1951 season, but the team still could not find a spot for him in the lineup, as the Indians had Al Rosen at third base and Larry Doby, Dale Mitchell and Bob Kennedy in the outfield. He consequently had only 14 at bats in eight April games.
Move to the Chicago White Sox On April 30, 1951, the Indians sent Miñoso to the White Sox in a three-team trade involving the Athletics, getting relief pitcher Lou Brissie from the Athletics in exchange. On May 1, Miñoso became the first black player on the White Sox, hitting a home run in Comiskey Park on the first pitch of his first at bat against the New York Yankees. He was an instant star, maintaining a batting average over .350 through most of the first half of the season, and finished the season hitting .324 – second in the AL behind the .344 mark of the Athletics' Ferris Fain. Miñoso was named for the first time to the AL All-Star roster (reserve player)Sportsdata: Midsummer Classics: Celebrating MLB's All-Star Game, 1959–1962, "all players who were named to the AL or NL roster were credited one appearance per season." Retrieved July 8, 2013 becoming – along with White Sox teammate Chico Carrasquel and Washington Senators pitcher Connie Marrero – one of the first Latin Americans ever named to an All-Star team. That year, he scored 112 runs (one short of Dom DiMaggio's league leading total) in 138 games played, topping the league with 14 triples and 31 stolen bases as well as 16 times being hit by pitches, and became known as "Mr. White Sox". Following the 1951 season, he finished second in the AL's Rookie of the Year voting behind the Yankees' Gil McDougald, drawing a protest by the White Sox due to Miñoso having better statistics in nearly every category. Miñoso also finished fourth in the year's Most Valuable Player voting. Miñoso was regarded as such an outstanding all-around player that Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle acquired the nickname "The Commerce Comet" because he reminded observers of "The Cuban Comet". When batting, Miñoso had a tendency to crowd the plate, which made him particularly susceptible to "beanball" pitches.
Miñoso followed up with several years of outstanding play for Chicago. He led the AL in steals in both 1952 (22) and 1953 (25), and topped the league with 18 triples and 304 total bases in 1954, appearing in the All-Star Game all three years and starting in 1954. On April 14, 1953, Opening Day, he provided the only hit for the Sox in a 4–0 loss to the Indians' Bob Lemon, and on July 4, 1954, he broke up a combined no-hitter by three Indians pitchers with two out in the ninth inning of a 2–1 loss. He led AL left fielders with three double plays in 1953, and the following year led all major league left fielders with 13 assists and three double plays. In the first game of a doubleheader on May 16, 1954, he drove in six runs in a 10–5 win over the Senators, and on April 23, 1955, he scored a career-high five runs in the White Sox' record-setting 29–6 road win over the Kansas City Athletics. Miñoso again finished second in the batting race in 1954 with a .320 mark, trailing the .341 average by the Indians' Bobby Ávila (Ted Williams, who did not have enough plate appearances to qualify, would have finished second given the needed at bats). On May 18, 1955, Miñoso suffered a skull fracture from being hit in the head by a pitch from the Yankees' Bob Grim in the first inning of an 11–6 loss. He finished the season with a .288 average, his lowest from 1953 through 1960; however, he had the longest hitting streak in the AL that year and the longest of his career, a 23-game string from August 9 to 30 during which he batted .421. In addition, his 18 assists that season were not only twice as many as any other left fielder in the major leagues, but also matched the highest mark by any AL left fielder from 1945 through 1983. He also led AL left fielders in putouts for the first time with 267.
Miñoso also represented a rare power threat for the Sox; due to the dimensions of Comiskey Park, the White Sox were the only major league team who did not have a player hit 100 home runs for them prior to World War II. On September 2, 1956, he hit his 80th home run with the Sox, off Hank Aguirre, in a 4–3 win over the Indians, breaking Zeke Bonura's team record. On September 23, 1957, in a 6–5 road loss to the Athletics, he became the first player to hit 100 home runs with the White Sox, connecting in the fourth inning off Alex Kellner. Miñoso topped AL left fielders again with 282 putouts and 10 assists in 1956, and with two double plays in 1957. He led the league in triples again in 1956 with 11, and in doubles with 36 in 1957. In the 1957 All-Star Game, he saved a 6–5 victory for the AL with a dramatic catch for the final out, with the tying run on second base. The 1957 season marked the first in which Gold Glove Awards were awarded, and Miñoso was chosen as the first honoree in left field (separate awards for both leagues were established the following year, and awards for each outfield position were discontinued for half a century after 1960 in favor of three awards for outfielders regardless of position).
Later seasons
Cleveland Indians