{"id":9959,"date":"2015-03-10T12:02:55","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T17:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=9959"},"modified":"2015-03-10T12:03:37","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T17:03:37","slug":"hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall of Fame snub doesn’t tarnish Minoso’s legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Eric Clark<\/p>\n

Hall of Famer and former Cub Billy Williams remembered Minnie Minoso as a player who gave everything he had to his team, teammates and fans \u2013 even if he didn\u2019t always get the respect he deserved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all thought of him as the Jackie Robinson of Latin players,\u201d Williams said.
\n<\/p>\n

Hundreds paid their respects and celebrated the life of \u201cMr. White Sox\u201d at his funeral on Saturday at Holy Family Church, just five weeks after the death of Chicago Cubs icon Ernie Banks. While Banks became the first black player to play for the Cubs in 1953, Minoso was baseball\u2019s first black Latino player and made his debut with the White Sox in 1951.<\/p>\n

Minoso passed away March 1 at \u00a090. Although overlooked by Major League Baseball\u2019s Hall of Fame, he is regarded as one of the greatest White Sox players of all-time. His No. 9 jersey was retired by the club in 1983.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis legacy is treat everyone with respect, be nice to everybody. And as a ballplayer, it was play hard. The only other player I can remember that played with the enthusiasm Minnie had was Jackie Robinson.\u201d
\u2014 Jerry Reinsdorf<\/div>\n

Williams said Minoso\u2019s exclusion from the Hall of Fame shouldn\u2019t diminish his legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome great players haven\u2019t made the Hall of Fame,\u201d Williams said. \u201cYou talk about the writers and the people who vote, some of the people hadn\u2019t seen Minnie play. A lot of things go into [being] a Hall of Fame player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minoso amassed 1,963 hits, 186 home runs and was hit by a pitch on 192 occasions in his career, which ended in 1980.<\/p>\n

Kenny Williams, executive vice president of the White Sox, said he wished Minoso could be alive to feel the glory of being inducted into the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe deserves to be in there. He celebrated baseball,\u201d Williams said. \u201cHe was one of baseball\u2019s great ambassadors. It\u2019s a shame that a man like this doesn\u2019t get to see it or get to feel what it\u2019s like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minoso\u2019s influence on the game of baseball and the White Sox is still being felt today. Cuban-born White Sox \u00a0players Jose Abreu and Alexei Ramirez were unable to attend due to spring training obligations, but both released statements expressing their sorrow and condolences over the loss of a mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinnie was like a second father to me, as well as many other Latin players in our clubhouse and across the game of baseball,\u201d Ramirez said in a statement read aloud Saturday. \u201cWe will miss his knowledge, his insight, his passion for the game, his encouragement, and of course, his smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fans<\/a>
Fans wait outside of Holy Family Church on Saturday. Hundreds attended Minnie Minoso’s memorial service. (Eric Clark)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hall of Famer and former White Sox player Frank Thomas said Minoso\u2019s historical impact on Chicago won\u2019t be forgotten. What the White Sox family will miss the most, he said, is Minoso\u2019s presence and optimism in the clubhouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe played five decades, he was first man of color to play in this city,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt was one of those things that Minnie did. But he loved people, and we\u2019re going to remember him as loving people.\u201d<\/p>\n

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf said Minoso\u2019s legacy goes beyond the excellence he provided the game for 17 seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis legacy is treat everyone with respect, be nice to everybody. And as a ballplayer, it was play hard,\u201d Reinsdorf said. \u201cThe only other player I can remember that played with the enthusiasm Minnie had was Jackie Robinson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minoso can\u2019t be replaced within the White Sox family, Reinsdorf said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t fill the void, you just go on,\u201d Reinsdorf said. \u201cYou have the memories. Nobody can ever take away the memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: A picture board at Minoso’s funeral showcases memorable moments from “The Cuban Comet’s” 17-year career (Eric Clark)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Eric Clark Hall of Famer and former Cub Billy Williams remembered Minnie Minoso as a player who gave everything he had to his team, teammates and fans \u2013 even if he didn\u2019t always get the respect he deserved. \u201cWe all thought of him as the Jackie Robinson of Latin players,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":9960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,243],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-9959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nHall of Fame snub doesn't tarnish Minoso's legacy - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hall of Fame snub doesn't tarnish Minoso's legacy - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Eric Clark Hall of Famer and former Cub Billy Williams remembered Minnie Minoso as a player who gave everything he had to his team, teammates and fans \u2013 even if he didn\u2019t always get the respect he deserved. \u201cWe all thought of him as the Jackie Robinson of Latin players,\u201d Williams said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-10T17:02:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-10T17:03:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/03\/minosofuneral2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"619\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ericclark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ericclark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/\",\"name\":\"Hall of Fame snub doesn't tarnish Minoso's legacy - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/03\/minosofuneral2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-10T17:02:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-10T17:03:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/f7d0085ef888ef99e6dfe274316496ac\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hall-of-fame-snub-doesnt-tarnish-minosos-legacy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/03\/minosofuneral2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/03\/minosofuneral2.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":619,\"caption\":\"A picture board showcases memorial photos from Minoso's 17-year career. 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