Immigrant of the Day: Minnie Miñoso (Cuba)

Minnie Miñoso (born November 29, 1925 in Havana, Cuba), is a former Major League Baseball player. He also played in the Negro Leagues, and ended his career in Mexican baseball.  Miñoso is one of just two players in Major League history to play in five separate decades (1940s-80s).

Miñoso was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1948. Between 1949 and 1964 he played for the Tribe (1949, 1951, 1958-59), Chicago White Sox (1951-1957, 1960-61, 1964, 1976, 1980), St. Louis Cardinals (1962) and Washington Senators (1963).

On May 1, 1951, in a game against the New York Yankees in Comiskey Park, the speedy Miñoso became the first black player to wear a White Sox uniform.

In his Major League career, Miñoso had a .298 batting average. His career ended with a .389 on base percentage and a .459 slugging average. He was a 7-time All-Star. For his excellence in left field, Miñoso received the Gold Glove Award three times. He led his league in triples and stolen bases three times each.

In 1976, after several years playing in Mexico, Miñoso returned to play three games with the White Sox. He picked up one single in eight at bats, becoming at age 53 the second-oldest player ever to get a base hit in the Major Leagues. Miñoso returned to appear in two more games with the Sox in 1980. In his 1980 appearance at age 54, Miñoso was the oldest player ever to bat in the Majors and the second-oldest ever to play.

Miñoso took part in the victory parade for the Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series Championship.

For Minnie Miñoso’s career stats, click here.

KJ