Minnie Miñoso

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Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 5' 10", Weight 175 lb.

Debut April 19, 1949
Final Game October 5, 1980
Born November 29, 1922 in Havana, Cuba

BR page

1 Introduction
2 Famous Feats
3 Analysis
4 Notable Achievements
5 Related Sites

[edit] Introduction

"Minoso was one of the best competitors I've ever seen. . . He'd run into walls and get on guys who weren't putting out. He was also one of the nicest guys I've ever known when the game was over. . . I had more respect for him than anyone I've ever met." - Jim Derrington in a 1991 interview appearing in the L.A. Times

Minnie Minoso played 17 years in the majors and had some of his best years after the age of 30. His chances for the Hall of Fame were hurt by the color line. Even so, he got as high as 21% of the BBWAA Hall of Fame vote, and in 2007 he received 15% of the Veterans Committee vote.

His Gray Ink score of 189 is well above the average Hall of Famer score of 144. Oddly, in MVP voting he finished fourth four times.

Minnie's book Just Call Me Minnie says that he was born in 1925 and began playing semi-pro ball in 1941. He was in Cuban professional winter ball starting in 1944.

[edit] Famous Feats

Before joining the Cleveland Indians in 1949, Minnie Minoso played with the Negro League's New York Cubans from 1945 to 1948. He hit .309 in 1946 and .294 in 1947. Minoso was the starting 3B in both the 1947 and 1948 East-West All-Star games.

Along with Nick Altrock, the only player to appear in a game in five different decades.

In 1971 Minoso was managing in the Mexican League. Frustrated when his Torreon Cotton Dealers had lost 9 in a row, Minoso put himself in the lineup and hit a 2-out, 2-run game-winning double in the 9th. After barely playing in 1970, Minoso became a regular again that year and hit .315/~.418/.426. He would play regularly the next two seasons, hitting .285/~.369/.431 in '72 and .265/~.350/.396 in '73 and stole 10 bases in 13 tries at the age of 50.

Second oldest ever player to hit safely in a major league game, during the 1976 season. He was 1 for 8 the entire season and his only hit came on September 12. Hall of Famer Jim O'Rourke hit safely at age 54 on September 22, 1904. The HOF and the US Census Bureau have O'Rourke being born in 1850.

Oldest player ever to come to bat in a major league game at age 57 on October 5, 1980, when he pinch hit for Chet Lemon in the seventh inning. Minoso grounded out third to first. He might have come to bat in 1990, but MLB didn't allow it.

Faced Frank Tanana in both 1976 and 1980 appearances.

Second-oldest player ever, after Satchel Paige.

[edit] Analysis

Although none of the ten most similar players to Minoso (according to the similarity scores method) are in the Hall of Fame, Minoso has a higher Adjusted OPS+ than any of them, and in most cases Minoso's Adjusted OPS+ is much higher. The most similar player according to the method is Carl Furillo. Of course, the similarity scores method only counts his major league years.