~1952 B.G.H.L.I. BOWMAN [SGC4] (#5)~ ORESTES "minnie" MINOSO~ (ROOKIE)

1sT Black player to play in Chicago. Roberto Clemente’s hero. “He was the Jackie Robinson for all Latinos,”<br><br>Miñoso did not become a regular in MLB until he was 25yo (or 28) as his DoB has been much debated <br><br>The integration of BB in Chicago is an under-told &amp; enormously important story. Chicago was 2nd biggest city in US &amp; 1 of the centers of African American life. More than a 500K African Americans moved to Chicago during the Great Migration &amp; was in many ways the very heart of the Negro Leagues. It was, for example, where the East-West AS Game was played every yr. Miñoso was starting 3B in East-West gm in 1947 &amp; 48 before he was signed by Cleveland.<br><br>It was actually Abe Saperstein, founder of the Harlem Globetrotters, who recommended Miñoso to Cleveland.<br><br>It remains unclear how Miñoso lost the RoY Award to Gil McDougald in 1951. Miñoso hit .326/.422/.500, all 3 slash lines significantly +McDougald. Scored +40 runs,+2B, 3B (*led MLB14)+RBI+17 SB (*led MLB 31)+BB,-K &amp; played 5 dif pos