HR0227 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0227 LRB099 11301 MST 31897 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta, known in the United States as Minnie Minoso, was born in Perico, Cuba; his birth date is often given as having been November 29, 1925; and

WHEREAS, After sharpening his baseball skills in Havana, Minnie Minoso emigrated to the United States in 1946, signing successively with the New York Cubans and the Cleveland Indians; and

WHEREAS, Grace Comiskey's team traded for Minnie Minoso on April 30, 1951, and on May 1, 1951, he became the first black player to take the field in the uniform of the Chicago White Sox, and the first black major leaguer in Chicago; he hit a home run in his first at-bat; and

WHEREAS, Minnie Minoso's play continued at a very high level throughout the 1951 season, leading to his finishing as a strong second in the balloting for 1951 Rookie of the Year honors; and

WHEREAS, Minnie Minoso was one of the baseball greats of the 1950s, named to 9 All-Star teams; he was the awardee of the inaugural Gold Glove Award for left field in 1957; and

WHEREAS, Orlando Cepeda paid tribute to Minnie Minoso as "the Jackie Robinson for all Latinos; the first star who opened doors for all Latin American players. He was everybody's hero. I wanted to be Minoso. Clemente wanted to be Minoso."; and

WHEREAS, After his days as a full-time player ended in 1964, Minnie Minoso never abandoned his love of the game, becoming known as "Mr. White Sox"; and

WHEREAS, Minnie Minoso retained close ties with the Chicago White Sox organization and the families that had owned the club; his love of the game led to a unique honor being bestowed upon him, when he re-signed with the Chicago White Sox in 1976 and 1980 in order to become the second player in major league history to wear a uniform and appear in a lineup in 5 successive decades; and

WHEREAS, Minnie Minoso was signed to appearances with the St. Paul Saints in 1993 and 2003, thus becoming the only player in baseball history to take the field in 7 successive decades; and

WHEREAS, During his lifetime, Minnie Minoso was further honored as one of the all-time greats of the Chicago White Sox, with his uniform number 9 retired in 1983 and a statue of him erected at U.S. Cellular Field on "Minnie Minoso Day", September 19, 2004; by this time, the black Cuban-American had become one of the last living landmarks of the integration era of Major League Baseball; and

WHEREAS, The ageless Minnie Minoso, a pioneer on many different levels of American life, passed away on March 1, 2015 in Illinois, the state he had come to call home; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of Chicago White Sox great Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented Minnie Minoso's widow, Sharon Rice; to Rick Hahn, the General Manager of the Chicago White Sox; and to Jerry Reinsdorf, the Executive Chairman of the Chicago White Sox.