The Golden Days Era committee vote will take place on Dec. 5 during the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fl.
Minnie Minoso has always been considered to be an all-time White Sox great. But the Sox legend may soon be receiving the game’s highest honor as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Minoso has been named to the Golden Days Era committee, which votes on players who played from 1950-69. The Early Baseball Era committee considers big leaguers who played before 1950.
Minoso, who was the first black latino player in MLB, is the patriarch of a long line of players four years after the debut of Jackie Robinson.
“Minnie was our Jackie Robinson,” former White Sox starter Jose Contreras said on Monday. “I remember the first time that I got into the White Sox clubhouse and Minnie was there it was like, ‘Wow. Minnie’s here.’ To me, he was a legend.
“He was one of the reasons I started playing baseball when I was a kid. … I wanted to be like him. And then when I had the chance to meet him here, it was incredible.”
Born in Havana, Cuba, he also represents the first of an extensive lineage of Cuban players to represent the White Sox over the years, including players like Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert, Yasmani Grandal, Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo, Orlando Hernandez, Contreras and many more.
“I am thrilled to see that he is now back on the ballot, again,” Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro League Museum said. “Because as Jose mentioned, you can never reduce Minnie Minoso’s career to just baseball. Minnie Minoso was the Latino Jackie Robinson. Hands down.
“And what he did, obviously, in this game is noteworthy and certainly justifies Hall of Fame merit. But what he meant was for legions of Latino ballplayers to know that they too could have the dream of playing in the Major League can not be understated.”
When looking at his numbers compared to other players of his time, it’s easy to see why a trip to Cooperstown could be in Minoso’s future. The Cuban born outfielder had a career .299/.387/.461 slashline with 195 homers, 216 stolen bases and 365 doubles over his 20 year career, including 12 years with the Sox.
The Golden Days Era committee vote will take place on Dec. 5 during the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fl.
“There’s a direct connection there to who Minnie Minoso represented not only the White Sox organization, but all over from the teams that he played with to the Negro Leagues, and most importantly to the Cuban community, Latino community and in the Afro Latino community,” former major leaguer Eduardo Perez said. “Being able to not only do it on the field, but also do it outside the lines and inspire others to be great in whatever they decided to do.”