Barrier Breakers: 1951 Minnie Minoso - Chicago White Sox

 

Although Orestes "Minnie" Minoso broke the color line for the White Sox in 1951, he made his MLB debut on the Indians in April of 1949. He hit .188 in 20 plate appearances with 2 walks and 2 hit-by-pitch. He spent the rest of '49 and '50 in San Diego of the PCL hitting .297 and .339 respectively. That earned him a short-lived promotion to the Indians in 1951.  It was short-lived because he was dealt to the South-Siders in a six-player, three-team swap. Once on the Sox, he batted .324 with 10 homers and 74 RBIs.  He also led the league with 31 stolen bases and 14 triples, was 4th in MVP voting and second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Minnie is a favorite of mine and has been featured on this blog several times.  This 1951 Bowman first appeared here in August of 2011.  I also made a 1951 Topps card for him as an Indian.

I've made several cards of the Cuban Comet over the years, but wanted to find another to make for this post.  I settled on a 1965 "Career Capper".  I considered a 1963 Fleer card featuring him on the Senators because he doesn't have a card in a Washington uniform.  But decided that this post was about the White Sox.  That'll be a project for another day.

Minnie Minoso

1925-2015

Another one of my all-time favorites passed away today. It's odd that the player who broke the color barrier for the White Sox died within weeks of the player who broke the color barrier for the Cubs. I can't express what these 2 great men meant to the city of Chicago and to baseball. Today's news just amplifies the tragedy of the recent "Golden Age" Hall of Fame ballot.

Minnie Minoso has always been one of my favorite subjects.I made the card above back in 2011 to commemorate his brief appearance playing for the Sox in 1980. I changed up the Topps cap design a bit to look more like the Sox cap of the era. Ultimately, I wasn't happy with it and never posted it until today.Instead went with this 1981 Fleer card:

I had also created 2 different cards for Minnie from 1951 sets. A 1951 Bowman of Minoso on the White Sox:

And a 1951 Topps card of Minnie on the Indians:

He even made it onto one of the leaders cards that never were, this 1961 RBI leaders card:

1951 Bowman Warren Spahn

Boston Braves CTNW Favorites #3

Warren Spahn pitched for the Braves in Boston and Milwaukee. Even though he never pitched in an Atlanta Braves uniform, he is immortalized in bronze outside Turner Field in Atlanta. Spahn is known not only for his heroics on the mound but also his heroics in World War II.

Spahn came up to the Boston Braves at the age of 21 in 1942. Following the 1942 season, he was drafted into the US Army where he served with honor. He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After 3 years in the service Spahn returned to baseball. He went on to be selected to 17 All Star teams, led the league in victories 8 times, ERA 3 times, strikeouts 4 times, shutouts 4 times and complete games 9 times. He also hit at least one homerun in every season from 1948-1964.

UPDATE

OK this post started as a 1949 Leaf Warren Spahn because I looked at a website that I use for reference and it had Spahn listed under Boston Red Sox. Not the Boston Braves, so I made another card this time a 1951 Bowman. Guess what? That already exists too. In fact Spahn is on every single Leaf, Bowman, Topps, Red Man and Berk Ross card during his Boston Braves years. I officially give up. I can't think of another way to portray Spahn as a Boston Brave.

1951 Gil Hodges - Football vs. Baseball

In the 1951 All Star game Gil Hodges had 2  RBIs and 2 runs scored with a single and a 2 run homer. His homer broke the 3-3 tie in the 6th as the Nationals cruised to an 8-3 victory. All Star game MVP awards were not given out until the 1962 season but I think a good case could be made for Hodges in 1951.

In 1991 Topps began using the same layout for its football cards as it used on their baseball cards. I decide to compare the baseball and football card formats of the past. 

 

The 1951 Bowman football cards were not that different from the baseball cards except that the player name was larger and there was a somewhat oversized team logo above the name.

 The 1951 Topps Baseball cards were part of a game that could be purchased in packs or as a complete 52 card game. Their football cards were collegiate and very plain looking but feature posed "action" shots in color compared to the black and white head shots on their baseball cards.

1951 Bowman Minnie Minoso

Minoso was the Rookie of the Year runner-up to Gil McDougald.  He had better numbers in every offensive category except home runs. McDougald had 14 Minoso had 10. In fact Minoso led the league in triples and stolen bases. Minoso also finished 4th in MVP voting McDougald finished 9th behind 3 Yankee teammates. Minoso was also selected to the All Star team, McDougald was not.