finalyear death_date debutyear statvalue finalteam birth_date death_place finaldate image statlabel debutteam name throws caption birth_place debutdate bats position article_title
1980 1 march 2015 1949 .298 186 1,023 chicago white sox 29 november 1922 chicago , illinois october 5 minnie miñoso 1953 bowman.jpg batting average home runs runs batted in cleveland indians minnie miñoso right miñoso in 1953 perico , cuba april 19 right left fielder minnie miñoso

minnie miñoso

orestes `` minnie '' miñoso -lrb- born saturnino orestes armas miñoso arrieta , ; , november 29 , 1922 -- march 1 , 2015 -rrb- , nicknamed `` the cuban comet '' and `` mr. white sox '' , was a cuban negro league and major league baseball -lrb- mlb -rrb- player .
he began his baseball career in 1946 and became an all-star third baseman with the new york cubans and was signed by the cleveland indians after the 1948 season as baseball 's color line slowly fell .
miñoso went on to become an all-star left fielder with the indians and chicago white sox .
the first black cuban in the major leagues and the first black player in white sox history , as a 1951 rookie he was the one of the first latin americans to play in an mlb all-star game .
miñoso was an american league -lrb- al -rrb- all-star for seven seasons and a gold glove winner for three seasons when he was in his 30s .
he batted over .300 for seven seasons .
he was the al leader in triples and stolen bases three times each and in hits , doubles , and total bases once each .
willie mays -lrb- 179 steals -rrb- and miñoso -lrb- 167 steals -rrb- have been widely credited with leading the resurgence of speed as an offensive weapon in the 1950s .
miñoso was particularly adept at reaching base , leading the al in times hit by pitch a record ten times , and holding the league mark for career times hit by pitch from 1959 to 1985 .
miñoso , as a defensive standout , led the al left fielders in assists six times and in putouts and double plays four times each .
miñoso was one of the most popular and dynamic players in white sox franchise history .
he helped the `` go-go '' white sox become one of the premier teams of the 1950s and 1960s .
a rare power threat on a team known for speed and defense , miñoso also held the white sox record for career home runs from 1956 to 1974 .
miñoso left the major leagues following the 1964 season , but went on playing and managing in mexico through 1973 .
he rejoined the white sox as a coach , and made brief but highly publicized player appearances in 1976 and 1980 .
he became the third player to get a hit after the age of 50 and the second player to appear in the major leagues in five decades .
miñoso 's white sox uniform number 9 was retired in 1983 , and a statue of him was unveiled at u.s. cellular field in 2004 .
miñoso was elected to the cuban baseball hall of fame in exile in 1983 , and to the mexican professional baseball hall of fame in 1996 .
in 2014 , miñoso appeared for the second time as a candidate on the national baseball hall of fame 's golden era committee election ballot for possible hall of fame consideration in 2015 .
he and the other candidates including former white sox teammate billy pierce , and two other former players from cuba , tony oliva and luis tiant , all missed induction in 2015 .
the committee meets and votes on ten selected candidates from the golden era -lrb- 1947 to 1972 -rrb- every three years .
