Orestes Minoso

Orestes "Minnie" Minoso (born Santurnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrietais, November 29, 1925 - March 1, 2015) was one of two Major League players to play in five decades (Nick Altrock) and became the only player in history to play professional baseball in seven decades when he played for the St. Paul Saints in 1993 and 2003. Minnie began his career as a third baseman in the Negro Leagues, played in the Mexican league and finally joined the Cleveland Indians in 1949 as a left fielder. On May 1, 1951, Minoso became the first black player to wear a Chicago White Sox jersey and smashed his first Major League home run against the Yankees, the same game that Yankees rookie slugger, Mickey Mantle, hits his first round-tripper. Though Gil McDougald was named the 1951 Rookie of the Year by the baseball writers, Minnie earned the honor of The Sporting News Rookie of the Year. Minnie played 17 seasons in the bigs with the Indians (1949, 1951, 1958-1959), the White Sox (1951-1957, 1960-1961, 1964, 1976, 1980), the St. Louis Cardinals (1962) and the Washington Senators (1963). He led the league in hits, doubles and total bases once, triples and stolen bases three times, and as a player who would do anything to get on base, led the league ten times in HBPs. He was named to nine MLB All-Star Games and won three Gold Gloves with the Sox. Minnie posted a .974 career fielding percentage with 3,276 putouts on 3,506 chances. Minnie Minoso finished his career with his beloved White Sox with 1,963 hits including 336 doubles and 186 home runs, 1,136 runs scored, 205 stolen bases, 1,023 RBI and a .298 career batting average. Minnie remained a goodwill ambassador for the Chicago White Sox organization and was referred to as “Mr. White Sox" until his death in 2015.