Minnie in 1956 Spring Training, thanks to Sports Illustrated.

When the White Sox take the field in US Cellular Field for their home opener, there will be less sunshine than there has been in years past. Part of their ceremonies will have to include saying goodbye to Minnie Minoso.

Orestes “Minnie” Minoso was born in Cuba in 1922, and began playing baseball in Cuba before coming to the United States in 1946 to play for the New York Cubans in the Negro National League. He played third base for the Cubans for three years, playing in the East-West All Star Game in his future home, Comiskey Park.

After the 1948 season, Bill Veeck signed him for the Cleveland Indians. Veeck had already signed Negro Leaguers such as Larry Doby and Satchel Paige, and the Indians won the World Series in 1948, the first integrated team to do so.

When Minoso played his first game for the Indians, he became the first black Cuban to play in the major leagues, getting the chance that greats like Martin Dihigo never got. He played a handful of games for Cleveland in 1949, and a few mre in 1951 before being traded to the Sox.

He then had an outstanding rookie season, hitting .324 with 10 home runs and 14 triples playing in cavernous Comiskey. He finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year race to Gil McDougald, despite having a statistically superior year. He also outshone another Yankee rookie, Mickey Mantle.

Minoso became one of baseball’s most exciting players, combining speed and power to become the Sox version of Mantle or Willie Mays. He never put up the huge numbers those players did, particularly home runs, but he still managed 4 years where he finished top 5 in MVP voting, and he (along with the oother members of the Go-Go Sox) were responsible for bringing the stolen base back as an offensive weapon.

He played with the Sox until December 1957, when he was traded along with Fred Hatfield back to Cleveland for Al Smith and Early Wynn. While that trade took away Minoso’s opportunity to play on the 1959 pennant winners, the team may not have made it to the World Series withut Smith or Wynn.

He was traded back to the Sox in December 1959, and his once-again owner Veeck gave him an honorary American League Champion ring. He had his last great season in 1960, hitting .311 and winning his third Gold Glove.

After the 1961 season, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent a year there, then was sold to Washington. In the 1964 season, the Sox brought him back for his third tour. He played 30 games, mainly as a pinch hitter, before being released during the season.

You’d think that would be it, right? Minnie went to Mexico and played and coached there until 1973, when he came back to the Sox as a coach. When Veeck re-bought the Sox before the 1976 season, he signed the 50 year old Minoso to a player contract. Minnie played 3 games, going 1-for-8 as a DH.

Minnie also was activated in 1980 at age 54, and was hitless in 2 at bats. This meant he played in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. He also played in the 90s for an independent minor league team owned by Veeck’s son.

After his playing days were done, he was an ambassador for the Sox, always livening up the ballpark. He was also an elder statesman among Cuban baseball players, bridging the eras between the Negro Leagues and players who came later, like Tony Oliva and Luis Tiant, then Freddy Garcia and Jose Canseco, then Yasiel Puig and Jose Abreu.

He’s got a statue outside US Cellular Park, and he’ll always be beloved among Sox fans.

Thanks Minnie.

I kept this card in my pocket until is was just a blank wad of cardboard.

This winter, as we Cub fans thought about the team that was taking shape for the 2015 season and beyond, we could think about experiencing things that Cub fans haven’t experienced for decades, or even a century. However, there was one thing we hadn’t counted on.

This marks the first baseball season in over six decades without Ernie Banks. Ernie left us the night of January 23, and it makes perfect sense that he went at night. Ernie lived in the sunshine, just as the sunshine lived in him. He brought joy to a game that should always have joy. Every time you saw Ernie Banks, he was always cheerful. In fact, he once said, “I treat everyone as if they have a sign that says, ‘make me happy.'” That sunshine within Banks was why everyone, Cub fan or not, even those who were born after he no longer played, loved him.

Everyone who ever met him was always treated like the most important person in the room by him. I took my wife to the 1994 Emil Verban Memorial Society luncheon (it’s a real thing, I promise), and Banks was holding court. As my wife approached, he turned and introduced himself, “Hi, I’m Ernie Banks.” Of course the fact that my wife happens to be a knockout didn’t hurt either But everyone got the thrill of not only meeting this great player, but also a great man.

As a four-year-old going to his first Cub game in 1967, all I knew going in was that the Cubs wore blue hats like mine, and Ernie Banks was Mr. Cub. All I wanted was for Banks to hit a home run that day. And he did. I don’t remember much about it (again, 4 years old), but my dad told me it was pretty much the same as every Banks home run, a rope to left field that you were never quite sure would clear the wall.

My dad was actually there the day Ernie hit #500. When I heard he was blowing off work to go, I wanted to blow off school to go too. He nixed that, but I managed to let the Cubs interfere with my education enough in later years…it was their fault, putting Wrigley Field right between Uptown and Lane Tech. But I digress…#500 was, again, classic Banks. Another rope into left. In fact, one habit I picked up from my dad was this kind of lifting motion with my hands, urging the ball over the wall. Kind of how a bowler waves at his ball trying to get it into the pocket. I know Dad was doing that as soon as Banks hit the ball. In fact, one of the biggest kicks I ever got was finding that ticket stub and showing it to Banks.

The name Mr. Cub fit him perfectly too. Not only because he was the greatest player in the history of the franchise, but he embodied the hope and optimism that we all feel, particularly then. The Cubs were contending for the first time in Banks’ career, and he believed as we all did…the Cubs would be great in ’68, the Cubs would shine in ’69, the Cubs would glow in 7-0. Something about the way he’d say it, we’d all believe. Hell, he had me believing those early 80s teams weren’t all that bad.

He had the same love for the game as I felt…when you’re a kid and school’s out, who didn’t want to play two? Three? Hell, as many as you could squeeze in before either the sun went down or it was time to eat. Ernie was right there with us, he just loved playing ball. Hell, his love of the game is why now that I’m in my 50s I still wear #14 when I play softball. Ernie was also a nightmare for baseball coaches all over Chicago, as every kid mimicked that finger-wiggling thing he did when he held the bat.

It was perfectly fitting that he was a Cub. When he got bought from the Kansas City Monarchs, the Cubs narrowly won a bidding war over the White Sox and Yankees. If Banks had been a Yankee, would his desire to play two every day have had the same ring? It’s easy to want to play more when you’re winning the pennant every year. If he had plied his trade in Comiskey Park, he would have turned the 1950s Sox teams from pretty good ones to great ones.

Instead, he was a Cub. In the late 50s, as he won back-to-back MVP trophies for second-division teams, it was said, “without Banks, the Cubs would finish in Albequerque.” Then once he got some help in the form of Ron Santo and Billy Williams, he had some more of his prime wasted with the “College of Coaches”. He was a diamond on a trash heap for the majority of his career.

Finally in the twilight of his career, he had a shot at contention. But as we all know, it was never to be. Still, his career spanned a watershed period for Major League Baseball. It started with him and Gene Baker integrating the Cubs in 1953, in an era where there were 16 major league teams, and none farther west than St. Louis. By the time he retired in 1971, there were 24 teams, including 5 in California. Of course, every team was integrated. When he came to Chicago, the great Cub power hitter of the era was Hank Sauer, a tobacco-chewing behemoth who swung a 40 ounce bat. Banks swung one in the low 30s, and looked like a buggy-whip when he unleashed into a pitch.

But his career was also a great one. One of the ten greatest shortstops of all time. 512 career home runs (including one on that day in 1967). An equal to his contemporaries, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

But his joy, his optimism, it embodied what the Cubs are all about. Without that optimism, you could never endure the heartbreaks of 1969, 1970, 1984 or 2003. That optimism is what makes you believe that he’s in whatever astral plane you believe in, lobbying for cosmic intervention.

And if the time ever comes when the Cubs finally become the last team to win a baseball game in a season, you can believe a lot of us will find our thoughts going to Ernie Banks.

Thanks for that, Ernie.

Let’s play two.

This offseason General Manager Rick Hahn and the White Sox were trying to sign players who could take on multiple roles throughout the season as needed. From second base to third base the Sox have acquired several players that offer significant depth at each position. Between Hahn’s acquisitions and the minor league talent that could lend a hand, the Sox feel as though they’ve put themselves in the best position to compete this season.
Conor Gillaspie was the starter for the majority of last season at third base. He had a productive season for the south siders in 2014 in which he had a .282 batting average along with 31 doubles and 5 triples. His Achilles heel from last season was versus left-handed pitching. Gillaspie put together a .221 average versus left-handers. It was that stat and his tendency for errors at third that led the Sox to look for a utility infielder that would be able to handle southpaws in the box.
Just after announcing that they were searching for such a player, the Sox reacquired Gordon Beckham off the free agency market.
I know as a Sox fan myself I was baffled at this move by Sox Management. Signing a one-year, $2 million contract Beckham comes as a cheap solution to the need for a utility infielder.
What baffled my mind the most though was the fact that in his career Beckham only carries a .245 batting average overall and .244 against left-handed pitching. However, when I looked deeper into his stats, it appears that he may have figured something out.
Last season the former White Sox first round pick got his average against left-handed pitching up to .293 and was more than likely the reason the Sox resigned him. As good as he was versus lefties, he was just as bad versus righties in 2014 only hitting .203.
Beckham will see time at second, short and third base this season as a reservist unless he destroys spring training. If the Sox can manage using Beckham and Gillaspie against the pitchers they are strongest against, as a team, they could put together a successful season.
Other options being looked at going into spring training include super utility players Emilio Bonifacio and Leury Garcia.
Before Beckham signed, Bonifacio was suggested as being the most likely to split time at third with Gillaspie, but the injury to Tony Campana could cause the Sox to use him in the outfield more often than they had hoped.
Garcia saw time at almost every position last season- even pitching an inning when Manager Robin Ventura needed to save on his arms in the bullpen. The problem with relying on the switch-hitting 23-year old super utility player is he’s only broke a .200 average once, and that was only a .204 batting average.
As much as the Sox are looking to keep as many utility players on the bench as possible, it may do Garcia well to spend some time in triple-A Charlotte where he could play every day.
There are two prospects playing third base in the minors that are expected to make their presence in the near future for the south siders.
According to whitesox.com, Matt Davidson and Trey Michalczewski are rated as the eighth and ninth top prospects in the organizations.
Davidson was a monster in the D-backs’ minor league organization and had his debut in the majors with the club. Unfortunately 2014 wasn’t as kind to the 23-year old as he only managed a .199 batting average at triple-A Charlotte. He did continue to show some power as he hit 20 home runs in 130 games last season. Whitesox.com estimates that Davidson is destined to see the pros in 2014.
The 19-year old Michalczewski spent time in low and high-A ball last season. The switch-hitting third baseman was able to compile a .273 average last season with White Sox’s Kannapolis club but had a little bit of a harder time at the next level in Winston-Salem hitting only .194. His patience seemed to be an issue last year as he struck out 161 times between the two clubs. Luckily the Sox have plenty of time to adjust his pitch selections since he’s so young.
He also had some faults last season in the field. Michalczewski was responsible for 27 errors between both levels. According to whitesox.com, his strongest two skills the scouts graded was his arm and his fielding. So it could just take time for him to hone in his abilities and improve his fielding. The same scouting report has his estimated time of arrival in the show being 2017, so this former two-sport athlete should focus on making successful changes instead of trying to rush up the organization.
The Sox have put themselves in a position where they could have success from the hot corner fielders. It’s up to each player to put on their best performances through spring training to see who will have the advantage of more playing time once the regular season starts.