On this date in 2021, the wait finally ended for White Sox icon Minnie Minoso and White Sox All-Star Jim Kaat.
After a one-year hiatus, the Hall of Fame’s Golden Era committee voted Minoso and Kaat into Cooperstown.
The honor was long overdue for Minoso, who was a trailblazer as well as an incredible talent, and Kaat, who won three of his record 16 Gold Gloves and 45 of his 283 games with the Sox from 1973 to 1975.
The achievement was bittersweet for Minoso backers as the successful Hall election came nearly seven years after his passing.
“This tremendous honor would have meant a great deal to my dad, and it means a great deal to us,” said Charlie Rice-Miñoso, Minnie’s son, in a statement. “My dad lived the American Dream. He was able to open doors and break barriers all while doing what he loved, fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a Major League Baseball player.
“He devoted his life to baseball, to all the fans, to the community and to Chicago, which he loved. He was so proud to be Black, to be a Cuban, to be an American and to be a professional baseball player for the Chicago White Sox. He also would have been so very proud to be a Hall of Famer.”
The man who busted the White Sox color barrier busted onto the scene on the Southside with a home run in his Sox debut on May 1, 1951.
“The Cuban Comet” went on to have one of the great Sox careers, which included three Gold Gloves in the outfield, six All-Star games, three stolen base crowns and appearances in a record five decades.
“I just imagine all the things that Minnie did without his family being there or here with him, and he never had a problem,” former White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras said on mlb.com at the time. “He was good on and off the field. He fought through all the obstacles put in front of him. He did great. He was a real hero, because I cannot imagine doing all the things that he did at that time. And to me, he was a hero, and he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.”
Miñoso made 15 appearances on the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Hall of Fame ballot but never approached the 75 percent needed to get elected. Minnie’s best showing on the writers ballot was in 1988 when he was listed on 21.1 percent of the vote.
The Veterans Committee and Golden Days committee failed Minnie repeatedly. He finally got enough votes in 2021 after the Golden Era vote was delayed by the pandemic.
Here’s what else happened on this date (Dec. 5th) in White Sox history:
*1946, HALL OF FAME PICKUP: The White Sox signed pitcher Red Ruffing as a free agent. Ruffing was a four-time 20-game winner with some great Yankee teams. He concluded his 23-year Hall-of-Fame career with the 1947 Whte Sox, going 3-5 with a 6.11 ERA in nine appearances.
*1951, RIP SHOELESS: “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, the emotional center of the “Black Sox” scandal, died at age 64 in South Carolina. He has turned into a mythical and tragic figure over the years but one thing remains constant: The numbers.
Jackson left the game with a .356 average. The 21 triples he collected in 1916 are still a Sox record and his .382 average in 1920 was surpassed only by Luke Appling’s .388 mark in 1936.
*1968, SO LONG “DADDY WAGS:” The White Sox sold outfielder Leon Wagner to the Cincinnati Reds. One of the most feared power hitters in the American League in the early and mid 1960s, Wagner experienced a power outage when he arrived on the Southside in a midseason trade with Cleveland. Wagner hit just one home run in 69 games for the Sox. The Reds weren’t much interested in Wagner either. He was returned to the Sox the following April 5 and was promptly released.
*1977, ACQUIRING THE DOT: The White Sox pulled off a blockbuster when they sent catcher-outfielder Brian Downing and pitcher Chris Knapp and Dave Frost to California for outfielders Bobby Bonds and Thad Bosely and Richard Dotson.
The Sox were looking to make a splash on the field and at the gate with Bonds, who was one of the most exciting but erratic performers of the 1970. Barry’s dad quickly he fizzled and was dealt to Texas just 26 forgetful games into his Sox career.
The cornerstones of this deal proved to be Downing and Dotson. Dotson went on to become a 20-game winner for the Sox while Downing turned into one of the most potent offensive players in Angels’ history.
*1986, LAYING THE GROUNDWORK: The Illinois General Assembly passed funding legislation to build a new home for the White Sox across the street from Comiskey Park, the franchise’s home since 1910.
This was an early step toward the construction of what would become New Comiskey Park and, ultimately, U.S. Cellular Field.
*1989, EASY COME TO GO: The White Sox selected left-handed pitcher Jeff Fassero from the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization in the minor league draft.
The Springfield, Ill., native went through spring training with the Sox but was released on April 3, 1989. Fassero went on to have a productive big league career pitching into the 2006 season.
*2011, SANTO GETS THE NOD: Ron Santo, who spent his final big league season of 1974, was voted into the Hall of Fame via the Golden Era committee.
Santo, a third baseman who played from the Cubs from 1960 to 1973, hit .221 with five homers in his lone year with the Sox.