Minnie Minoso RIP

[39special]

I just read Minnie Minoso passed away at age 90. Someone I feel should be in the baseball HOF. RIP Mr.Minoso.

[Chris-Counts]

One of baseball's best all-around players during the 1950s and the game's first Latin American star, Minnie Minoso was unquestionably a Hall of Famer. It's a sad day on the South Side.

[clydepepper]

Those who have actual votes have reason to be ashamed today...just like Ron Santo's fate.

Minnie deserved better!

We will miss him.
-
-

[D.P.Johnson]

[vintagehofrookies]

damn this sucks. R.I.P to a true Legend! Minoso not being elected into the Hall just shows how stupid whoever those idiots that vote are!

[Joshchisox08]

As a die hard White Sox fan yesterday's news about Sale's injury was bad and today even worse news. RIP Mr. White Sox =(

[HRBAKER]

RIP Minnie. He was great fun to talk to and I always enjoyed watching him get his ruler/straight edge and lay it down on your item when he signed it so the signature would be on a straight line. Super player.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

RIP Minnie. He was great fun to talk to and I always enjoyed watching him get his ruler/straight edge and lay it down on your item when he signed it so the signature would be on a straight line. Super player.

Jeff, I caught up with Minnie in 1957 and have often wondered about the autograph that he signed for me. It never quite looked like others I have seen, but neither he nor I had a straight edge that day.

[BlueDevil89]

He was truly one of the good guys...

[Robextend]

RIP Minnie

[autocentral]

Sad news. We lost a great player who should have been inducted into the HOF.

R.I.P. Minnie Minoso.

[byrone]

I've read three obits for Minnie so far and each one lists a different age.

Old time baseball

[Fred]

I hate these threads..... Just really sad to see the old timers (anyone for that matter) moving on.....

[Klrdds]

With Ernie Banks and Minnie Minoso passing away so close to each other baseball and Chicago have lost 2 great icons and ambassadors.

[MMarvelli]

He remains a legit Hall of Famer. Playing in five decades in the majors always impressed me.

Redman Minoso, Minnie (F+B).jpg

[Jason Carota]

RIP, Mr. Minoso.

[Shoebox]

Had not heard this until now.

Rest in peace.

[the 'stache]

This is the worst part about being a fan of the game, saying goodbye to the great players that have made the game what it was. And Saturnino Orestes Minoso was not just a great player, he was a great man, and an ambassador for the game he loved. That he wasn't inducted into the Hall of Fame in his lifetime is yet another strike against a Hall that has lost its way. I read an interview with him not long ago, and his dream was to be inducted while he was alive. Well, he has always been a Hall of Famer to me.

What Jackie Robinson did for black men who were kept out of the game because of a "gentlemen's agreement", as it was called between the owners of the day, Minnie Minoso did for not only Latin American players, but all foreign players. There may have been a few other Latin American players who preceded him (just like there were black players who preceded Robinson, though decades earlier), but Minoso's talent, and charisma, broke down barriers. Not only did he face racial discrimination because of the color of his skin, he was also discriminated against because he was a foreigner. And when I think of that, I don't know how this "Golden Era Committee" didn't vote him in. When he came to the United States from his homeland of Cuba, he spoke very little English. But he still excelled. And he became beloved.

Look at all the players in the Major Leagues now from other countries, not just Latin America. Not only do we have players from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, and the rest of Latin America, but also Korea, Japan, China, the Netherlands, Germany...everywhere. Anywhere that baseball is played, there are representatives in the Major Leagues. Now there are players in the minors from India, too.

Minnie Minoso made that possible. He faced what Jackie Robinson did, and more. And, like Robinson, he was a fantastic player.

How is he not in Cooperstown?

God's Speed, Cuban Comet.

[clydepepper]

Well said as usual Bill - even though I never had the honor of meeting him, I feel like I've lost a true friend.
-
-

[brian1961]

Jeff, thanks ever so much bro, for sharing your dear memories of Mr. Minoso signing your photo and card. That kind of care means the world to us collectors. Moreover, he sounds like the kind of guy that made a friend for life with each fan he met. Man, do we ever need more people such as Minnie Minoso.

You people that smugly, arrogantly, pompously call yourselves the Baseball Hall of Fame----hang your heads in shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! It isn't all about 3,000 hits, 400 home runs, 3 World Series rings and MVPs. It took you too late to understand Ron Santo. Now you've done it again with Minnie Minoso.

Jeff, your autographed 1954 Red Heart Dog Food gem just glows. In my opinion, that's Minnie's finest, most beautiful baseball card. To think he took such tender loving care to give you a nice proper autograph upon it is priceless.

Again, thanks for sharing bro, on this very, very, very sad day. --Brian Powell