Minnie Miñoso

Minnie Miñoso (born November 29, 1925, Perico, Matanzas, Cuba—died March 1, 2015, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.) was a Cuban professional baseball player known for his speed and baserunning ability and who was the first Black major league star from Latin America.

Miñoso began his career playing on teams in the Cuban sugar-mills league, and in 1945 he joined the Negro leagues’ New York Cubans. In 1948—after the major league colour barrier was broken—Miñoso signed with the Cleveland Indians but only appeared in nine games before being sent to the minor leagues. In 1951 he was traded to the Chicago White Sox and became the first Black player in the history of the franchise. Miñoso, an outfielder, had an outstanding rookie season, finishing with a .326 batting average and 31 stolen bases and coming in second in voting for American League Rookie of the Year honours.

Miñoso led the American League in stolen bases and triples three times, won three Gold Glove awards, and was a seven-time All-Star. He had a .298 career batting average over 17 seasons in the major leagues, which included five different stints with the White Sox. He played three games with the White Sox in 1976, during which Miñoso, at age 53, became the second oldest player to get a base hit in a major league game. Miñoso appeared in two games for the White Sox in 1980 and thus played in the major leagues in five decades. He wanted to join the White Sox for an appearance in 1990, but his request was rejected by the commissioner of baseball.

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From 1965 until 1973 Miñoso played in the Mexican League, where he had a .317 career batting average. He also returned home to Cuba almost every winter between 1945 and 1961 to play. In 14 seasons in Cuba, Miñoso, playing exclusively with the Marianao Tigers, had a .279 batting average.

Miñoso was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.