Top home run hitters in Chicago White Sox history
By Phil Watson
White Sox all-time home run hitters – No. 13: Minnie Minoso
135 home runs from 1951-57, 1960-61, 1964, 1976, 1980
Minnie Minoso was signed by the Cleveland Indians before the 1948 season. While Minoso was from pre-revolutionary Cuba, he had played parts of three seasons with the New York Cubans in the Negro National League.
He came to the Chicago White Sox in an April 30, 1951, three-team trade, with Minoso going to Chicago, Dave Philley and Gus Zernial traded by the White Sox to the Philadelphia Athletics, who swapped Paul Lehner to Chicago.
His first homer for the White Sox came in his debut for the club on May 1, 1951, a two-run shot in the first inning off New York Yankees right-hander Vic Raschi.
Minoso played third base and all three outfield positions in his first season with the White Sox and wound up making three consecutive All-Star appearances between 1952 and 1954, leading the league in stolen bases in both 1952 and 1953 and in triples in 1954 and 1956. Minoso was fourth in the American League MVP voting in 1953, 1954 and 1960.
After a fourth All-Star nod in 1957, Minoso was traded back to the Indians in December 1957 along with Fred Hatfield, with Early Wynn and Al Smith coming to the Sox. He was involved in a third trade between Cleveland and the White Sox in December 1959, a seven-player deal that brought Minoso back to the White Sox along with Dick Brown, Don Ferrarese and Jake Striker.
Minoso earned his fifth All-Star selection as a member of the White Sox in 1960, but after the 1961 season was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He signed with Chicago as a free agent in April 1964 before he was released in July of that year. His last homer came off Kansas City Athletics left-hander Ted Bowsfield in the seventh inning of the nightcap of a May 6, 1964, doubleheader.
Minoso’s high for homers as a member of the White Sox was 21 in 1956 and he also hit 20 in 1960, when he led the AL with 184 hits. Minoso would later coach with the White Sox from 1976-78, making a late-season appearance as a player at age 50 and did so again at age 54 in 1980.
His 1976 cameo resulted in him becoming the third-oldest player to get a hit in a major league game. Minoso died March 1, 2015, at the age of 89.