Abreu reflects on mentorship from Minnie Miñoso

CHICAGO – José Abreu was getting ready for the second or third game of his Major League career with the White Sox, sitting at his home clubhouse locker at Guaranteed Rate Field at the start of April 2014, when Minnie Miñoso paid him a visit.

A visit from the White Sox legend and true baseball icon was nothing unusual for anyone in the organization. But in this instance, Miñoso sat down next to Abreu and asked, "Will you let me give you three pieces of advice?"

“I said to him, ‘How would I not?’” a smiling Abreu told MLB.com during a recent interview, through interpreter Billy Russo. “First one, be always on time. Second, work hard. Third, is discipline. Those are the keys to have success.”

It’s a mantra Abreu has followed to this day in 2022, nine years into an equally illustrious career with the White Sox. Miñoso was a mentor and a friend to Abreu and countless other players, and on Sunday July 24 on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center, Miñoso will be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame along with Bud Fowler, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Buck O’Neil, and David Ortiz.

Hodges, Kaat and Oliva were elected with Miñoso through the Golden Days Era Committee. This celebration in Cooperstown, N.Y. will be a massive and memorable one for the Miñoso family, with 85-to-90 people expected to be in attendance, not to mention his beloved White Sox family.

“He was a god. For us, he was a god,” said Abreu of his Cuban countryman. “The name of Minnie in Cuba is something really really big. For me personally, I’m just blessed I had the chance to meet him and to spend time with him because he’s an incredible human being. Just a god.”

“I’m very happy for him to get this honor,” said former White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez, during a recent Zoom, through Russo. “I would have preferred this would have happened when he was alive. It would have been way better. But it didn’t happen. I know that right now, he’s probably happy just seeing this.”

Miñoso became the first black Cuban to ever play for the White Sox on May 1, 1951, and homered off the Yankees’ Vic Raschi in his very first plate appearance. His jersey No. 9 was retired by the White Sox in 1983 and a concourse statue at Guaranteed Rate was unveiled in 2004.

As a seven-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and a player who hit over .300 eight times, Miñoso was one of the best to ever play during his 12 seasons in Chicago. He also began the franchise’s Cuban lineage running through players such as Jose Contreras and Orlando ‘El Duque’ Hernandez on the 2005 World Series championship team, Abreu, Ramirez and continuing well into the future.

Ramirez wore Miñoso’s No. 9 jersey with Miñoso’s name on the back as a tribute for the 2015 home opener, after Miñoso died on March 1 of that year at the age of 91. He came up with the idea and had the permission of White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, general manager Rick Hahn and the Miñoso family.

“Being able to carry that number on the field for that game was very special and it was something that I just wanted to do to honor him,” Ramirez said. “He was a very happy man. I never saw him angry.

“He was cheering for everyone, not just the Cuban players, but for everybody in the clubhouse. That’s definitely what I remember most. Just the happiness that he carried with him, and he shared with everybody.”

Abreu was asked for one thing he learned about Miñoso others might not know, and he smiled and replied, “He was just an incredible man.”

After a pause, Abreu added, “And you already knew that.” People feel the same about Abreu, who carries on the influence of Miñoso’s endearing legacy.

“That’s what drives me every day,” Abreu said. “When I’m here, I try to pay my tributes to him. I try to carry my heritage and take the baton he kind of gave me with honor and respect and try to honor him and his name and try to help everybody here, especially the Latino and Cuban guys.

“I just realized right away the kind of man that he was. All of his kindness. How respectful he was. And it’s something that definitely hit you. Then you kind of fall in love with him and his personality.”