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Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso
Chicago White Sox
Outfield
Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 5'10" Weight: 175Born: November 29, 1925, La Habana, Cuba
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before the 1948 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1949, 1951; Chicago White Sox 1951-1957; Cleveland Indians 1958-1959; Chicago White Sox 1960-1961; St. Louis Cardinals 1962; Washington Senators 1964; Chicago White Sox 1976, 1980
Died: March 1, 2015, Chicago, IL (age 89)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2022
Minnie Minoso spent a lifetime in baseball, beginning his professional career as an All-Star third baseman for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues and ending his career five decades later as a 54-year-old pinch-hitter for his Chicago White Sox in 1980. In between, Minoso was a nine-time All-Star and a three-time Gold Glover, spending the bulk of his 17 different seasons in the Majors with the White Sox. Minoso led the American League in triples three times (1952, 1954, 1956) and stolen bases three times (1951, 1952, 1953). He received American League MVP votes in eight different seasons but he never played in a postseason game. His best season was perhaps 1954 when he led the American League in WAR (of course this wasn't tracked at the time) while hitting .320 with 18 triples, 19 home runs and 116 RBIs. At one point he was the White Sox franchise leader in home runs (135) and the American League all-time leader in being hit by a pitch (189). Those records were broken by Bill Melton in 1974 and Don Baylor in 1985, respectively.
The autograph guests at this show were Andy Seminick (#296) and Gene Mauch, neither of whom we stood in line for up on the Music Pier's stage to meet. Looking back, it strikes me as strange now that neither my Dad or I never really spent much time tracking down autographs from the show's signers and I kind of wish we had. I'm sure the cost of an autograph from Seminick or Mauch wasn't that much, and it would have been nice to have those memories and those autographs in our collection.
Then again, Seminick and Mauch were signing at night between 6 and 9pm. This would help explain why we didn't stick around as we would have been long gone from the show by then.
The Card / White Sox Team Set
That sure looks like the Yankees' Phil Rizzuto (#113) manning second base as Minoso is about to slide in. This is Minoso's first appearance in a Topps set since 1953, as it would appear he was under contract to Bowman at the time. Topps is off by two years on Minoso's birth year, this time making him older than he actually was instead of going the other way as was more typical back then. Minoso's nickname of "The Cuban Comet" is referenced in the first panel of the cartoon on the back of the card. The other two panels focus on his speed and his frequent All-Star Game appearances.
1956 Season
As the every day left fielder for the White Sox, and arguably the team's most valuable player, Minoso appeared in 151 games and hit .316 with 29 doubles, 11 triples, 21 home runs and 88 RBIs. He was most regularly joined in the outfield by Larry Doby (#250) in center and Jim Rivera (#70) in right. On September 2nd, Minoso hit his 80th home run with the White Sox, breaking Zeke Bonura's franchise record.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1952 Bowman #5
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1952-1953, 1956-1964, 1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2013 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-MMI
196 - Minoso non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/14/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Minnie Minoso spent a lifetime in baseball, beginning his professional career as an All-Star third baseman for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues and ending his career five decades later as a 54-year-old pinch-hitter for his Chicago White Sox in 1980. In between, Minoso was a nine-time All-Star and a three-time Gold Glover, spending the bulk of his 17 different seasons in the Majors with the White Sox. Minoso led the American League in triples three times (1952, 1954, 1956) and stolen bases three times (1951, 1952, 1953). He received American League MVP votes in eight different seasons but he never played in a postseason game. His best season was perhaps 1954 when he led the American League in WAR (of course this wasn't tracked at the time) while hitting .320 with 18 triples, 19 home runs and 116 RBIs. At one point he was the White Sox franchise leader in home runs (135) and the American League all-time leader in being hit by a pitch (189). Those records were broken by Bill Melton in 1974 and Don Baylor in 1985, respectively.
Minoso served as a coach with the White Sox between 1976 and 1978, and again in 1980. He was activated by the White Sox in September 1976 and picked up a single on September 12th at the age of 50 becoming the fourth oldest player to collect a big league hit. He was activated again in October 1980, but went 0 for 2 in two pinch-hitting appearances. His #9 was retired by the White Sox in 1983.
Postscript - Minnie Minoso was elected into the Hall of Fame in December 2021 by the Golden Days Era Committee, and he'll be inducted posthumously in July 2022.
Building the Set
June 22, 1990 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #94
I paid $13 for this card and the Don Mossi (#39) card at the annual baseball card show held within the Ocean City Music Pier. The years 1990 and 1991 saw my Dad and I add the fewest 1956 Topps cards to our set. I believe this was due to a combination of me being in high school and the fact that we were more actively collecting Topps sets from the early 1970s.
All while slowly collecting the 1956 Topps set, Dad and I first put together a complete 1975 set, followed in quick succession by the 1974 and 1976 sets. We then began the 1973 set followed by the 1970 set. We hand collated these five sets during our "golden era" of collecting together between 1987 and 1997. I finished off the 1972 Topps set on my own in the early 2010s and I added the final card for my 1971 Topps set in December 2019.
Building the Set
I paid $13 for this card and the Don Mossi (#39) card at the annual baseball card show held within the Ocean City Music Pier. The years 1990 and 1991 saw my Dad and I add the fewest 1956 Topps cards to our set. I believe this was due to a combination of me being in high school and the fact that we were more actively collecting Topps sets from the early 1970s.
All while slowly collecting the 1956 Topps set, Dad and I first put together a complete 1975 set, followed in quick succession by the 1974 and 1976 sets. We then began the 1973 set followed by the 1970 set. We hand collated these five sets during our "golden era" of collecting together between 1987 and 1997. I finished off the 1972 Topps set on my own in the early 2010s and I added the final card for my 1971 Topps set in December 2019.
The autograph guests at this show were Andy Seminick (#296) and Gene Mauch, neither of whom we stood in line for up on the Music Pier's stage to meet. Looking back, it strikes me as strange now that neither my Dad or I never really spent much time tracking down autographs from the show's signers and I kind of wish we had. I'm sure the cost of an autograph from Seminick or Mauch wasn't that much, and it would have been nice to have those memories and those autographs in our collection.
Then again, Seminick and Mauch were signing at night between 6 and 9pm. This would help explain why we didn't stick around as we would have been long gone from the show by then.
The Card / White Sox Team Set
That sure looks like the Yankees' Phil Rizzuto (#113) manning second base as Minoso is about to slide in. This is Minoso's first appearance in a Topps set since 1953, as it would appear he was under contract to Bowman at the time. Topps is off by two years on Minoso's birth year, this time making him older than he actually was instead of going the other way as was more typical back then. Minoso's nickname of "The Cuban Comet" is referenced in the first panel of the cartoon on the back of the card. The other two panels focus on his speed and his frequent All-Star Game appearances.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1952 Bowman #5
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1952-1953, 1956-1964, 1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2013 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-MMI
196 - Minoso non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/14/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
