Minnie Miñoso

The Cuban Comet who broke barriers and electrified the Go-Go White Sox.

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 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.

Quick Facts

Position: Left fielder
Bats: Right
Born: 29 November 1924
Birthplace: Perico, Cuba
Died: 1 March 2015
Place of death: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Debut league: NgL
Debut year: 1946

Lore & Background

Miñoso was an American League All-Star for seven seasons and a Gold Glove winner for three seasons when he was in his 30s. He batted over .300 for eight seasons. He was the AL leader in triples and stolen bases three times each and in hits once. He 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. 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.

Reader's Guide

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. He and Oliva were elected to the Hall of Fame in 2021.

Did You Know?

Miñoso was born in Perico, Cuba, and his date of birth is often cited as 1923 or 1925, but his family's remembrance card lists 1924–2015.
He was the first black player on the Chicago White Sox, hitting a 415-foot home run on the first pitch of his first at bat for the team in 1951.