Minnie Minoso Biography Favorites Color Green, White & Brown Food Steak, Fish & Spanish Food Time of Year All seasons Vacation Spot Anywhere

Baseball legend Minnie Minoso was born Saturnino Orestes Arrieta Armas Minoso in Havana, Cuba, on November 29, 1922. The outfielder and third baseman played seventeen seasons on four different Major League teams.

Known as the "Cuban Comet," Minoso was the first Chicago White Sox player to break the color barrier in 1951. In his first at bat in his White Sox debut May 1, 1951, Minoso hit a home run in a game against the New York Yankees. He finished his rookie year as the American League leader in stolen bases and triples and led the American League in stolen bases each year from 1951 to 1953.

While with Chicago, Minoso ushered in the era of the "Go-Go Sox." Although he was not present for the Sox's 1959 pennant win, they gave him an honorary championship ring.

Following stints with the Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators, Minoso batted .302 in 1958 and 1959 before the Sox reacquired him in 1960, when he led the American League in hits. While he retired from baseball in 1964, the Sox brought him out of retirement in 1976. He coached for the Sox from 1976 to 1978. The club's president named him "Mr. White Sox" before his uniform number was retired in 1983.

Minoso was a seven-time American League All-Star and a three-time Gold Glove outfielder. He was elected to the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame in 1984 and the World Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. Since his retirement from the game, he has served as an ambassador for baseball and a Sox community relations representative. In 2002, he was inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals.

Minoso was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 7, 2002.