Minnie Minoso oral history interview
Date1992
DescriptionAn interview of Minnie Miñoso that was conducted by Larry Moffi in 1992 at an unknown location. Content of the interview includes: Side One -- Track 1 - Came up to the Major Leagues in 1948, signed by the Cleveland Indians, but first went to Dayton,OH, where he was the first black player in Dayton; he enjoyed it very much, and then he was moved up to Cleveland in 1949; he played a little bit with them, but only got 15 times at bat, and then they sent him out to San Diego and the coach thought he should have stayed in the big leagues; but they moved him into left field, which was unusual for a rookie; even though he was a rookie, he had experience, he had tried out for the Cardinals, and they were going to send him to Minneapolis, but he didn't want to go there, but then Cleveland signed him up; he didn't get enough times at bat, the newspapers said he was 28-30 years old, but he was 24-25, he was born in 1925, but because they said he wasn't a rookie, he wasn't eligible for American League Rookie of the Year, even though he hit 22 points higher than (Gil?) McDougald; but McDougald hit a home run with bases loaded in the World Series; Minoso still received the Rookie of the Year award from the Sporting News for 1951; not due to discrimination, white or black, just due to the New York writers favoring a New York player (00:00:00 to 00:05:26.5) Track 2 - On not playing for the New York Yankees, respected the team, but he never had the idea to stay and play for them in New York; when he was traded from Cleveland, he was hurt, he thought his baseball career was over; he didn't speak English very well and didn't know if the people would accept him; but he said he wanted to play; he had a lot of records, of cha-cha and Cuban music, and he used to play the records in his rooms and on the train; they went from St. Louis to Cleveland for a double header; they lost, he went 4-4 in the first game and 3-4 in the second game, and they asked him to play first base for Luke Easter, who had gotten hurt; and after that game they told him that he was being traded to Chicago; and he was crying a little bit after that, and Ray Boone came into his room, and told him it was the best thing that could happen to him, because the rookies wouldn't have a chance to play in Cleveland, it was Boone's rookie year as shortstop, also (Al) Rosen was there, playing at third and the outfield; he went back to Cleveland to get his stuff and he went to the office and had a discussion, they said that they had nine black baseball players, in the Major Leagues, but Frank Lane had seen him play, and wanted him to be the first black player in Chicago, because he felt he would help the ball club; he needed to buy a car to get around Chicago, so they fronted him the money to get the car (00:05:26.5 to 00:11:53) Track 3 - On working with White Sox manager Paul Richards, best manager he ever worked with in his life; he knows how to work with the players, made it so all the players wanted to give him 100%; he only had a problem with Richards one time, they lost a double header to Cleveland, that was the only time he had a problem in Cleveland, Mike Garcia was pitching, and he got a base hit with a ground ball, and he was on first base, and the next batter got a base-on-balls, so the bases were loaded and there was two outs, and he made a mistake, he thought the count was 3-2, so when it was ball, he thought it was ball four, and they threw him out; and Richards said the mistake would cost him $500; the following day he gave him a check $350, but Minoso said he owned him $500, and he said him to get out of there; Richards also told him, in the ballpark in Anaheim, that he could take over the ball club, but Minoso said he wasn't ready to be a manager, he still had things to learn, in 1976, so they made him a base coach; Richards was the best manager, because he always managed to teach something (00:11:53 to 00:19:52) Track 4 - On Luke Easter, his roommate, a real gentleman, a big guy, 6'4" or 6'5", 200-something, people thought he was tough, because he was big, but he was always apologizing, they played together in San Diego; the owner didn't want them to hang out together too much because he was older than the rookies, but they were friends, had worked in the Negro League together; Minoso came into the Negro League in 1945; Easter had gotten hurt because he had problems with his knees, similar to (Larry) Doby having trouble with his legs, he could have been like Mickey Mantle, but had problems with his legs, in the Negro League, Doby ran like a tornado, but later on, he had problems with his knees; Easter stayed in Cleveland when Minoso went to Chicago, so they lost track of each other, it really bothered him when he heard that Easter got killed in Cleveland by robbers going after the payroll that he was in charge of, the robbers shot and killed him (00:19:52 to 00:24:23) Track 5 - On (Al) Lopez as a manager, he was alright, but he didn't play as long for Lopez as he did with Richards, he was a rookie with Richards; Richards was the best manager he ever played for, in the Minor Leagues, or in the Big Leagues; Lopez gave Minoso the chance to play first base, but then he was traded (00:24:23 to 00:26:47) Track 6 - On taking it personally when he was traded, because it fell in love with the town where he was; he was in love with Cleveland, so he was more comfortable there, they spoke Spanish a little bit; Larry Doby was there, Satchel Paige was there, Luke Easter; when he went to Chicago, he didn't know anyone there, but he was a very independent guy; he was staying with people and they showed him the streetcar and waited for him until he got his car; his first game he hit one out of the ballpark, so all the people liked him, and Frank Lane said he brought the crowds to the game, so he wanted him to stay there (tape runs out) (00:26:47 to 00:31:07.3)
Object numberBL-2000-02292-018
Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer
Moffi, Larry
Subject
Miñoso, Minnie, 1925-2015
Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer
Miñoso, Minnie, 1925-2015
Classificationsaudio/visual materials
Collection NumberBA RMA 002 Larry Moffi oral history collection
Dimensions00:31:07|1 of 2
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RestrictionsDue to copyright restrictions, this interview can only be listened to at the Giamatti Research Center at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Object number: BL-2001-00092-017
St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball team)
1968 February 08