Minnie Miñoso made his debut 70 years ago

CHICAGO – Minnie Miñoso made his White Sox debut 70 years ago against the Yankees, and in the process, broke the White Sox color barrier.

Miñoso, who passed away at the age of 89 on March 1, 2015, was an influential figure on and off the field for the organization from the time of that first pitch home run he launched against the Yankees' Vic Raschi on May 1, 1951, at Comiskey Park. The native of La Habana, Cuba, and dynamic overall talent served after his retirement as a mentor and friend to many players such as José Abreu, who has done the same for younger White Sox players over his eight-year-tenure.

“There are too many words to describe Minnie and all he did. He was an exemplary man, a great father and an outstanding baseball player,” said Abreu through Billy Russo in a statement to MLB.com. “He did great things for Cuba, for the Cuban players.

“He was a pioneer among coming to the U.S. and he showed us the path to get here and have a better life, but always representing our country, Cuba. We as Cuban players need to keep making and pushing the example that Minnie gave us on and off the field.”

Miñoso was a seven-time All-Star, and finished with a 186 home runs, 83 triples, 205 stolen bases and an .848 OPS. He played parts of 12 seasons with the White Sox over his 17-year-career and earned three outfield Gold Gloves.

Abreu agrees with many pundits who feel Miñoso should someday be a Hall of Famer.

“I think Minnie did enough great things in baseball to be in the Hall of Fame,” Abreu said. “He deserves it and he should be there soon.”

Bummer believes in the bullpen
Aaron Bummer, who is one of the top setup men in the American League, gave an honest assessment Saturday of the team’s 14-11 showing in April.

“We are hitting the crap out of the baseball,” Bummer said. “Our starting pitchers are giving us a chance dang near every single time out. I think the bullpen kind of left a few out there for us.”

The White Sox bullpen closed April ranked 25th in the Majors with a 4.50 ERA. They were tied for second with seven losses and had just five saves in 12 opportunities. But the mishaps were limited more to a two-or-three-batter situation or even two or three pitches within an inning, as opposed to overall ineffectiveness. It leaves Bummer confident his group will turn things around as the season progresses.

“We are going to be better down there. We just kind of keep plugging away,” Bummer said. “We have to keep going and keep pitching and keep making the pitches we need to make, and we are going to be in the right spot at the end of the day.

“It humanizes all of us. We all believe we are going to be able to go out there and dominate our will on everyone. Each guy kind of has that mentality, that when we are on our game, we are going to dominate. It’s being able to get to that point as much as possible. Is it going to be perfect every time? No. But are we going to be able to do it more often than not? Absolutely.”

Third to first
• Adam Engel, who has been on the 10-day injured list retroactive to March 29th with a strained right hamstring, still doesn’t have a set return date, per manager Tony La Russa.

“I just think it’s still a work in progress,” La Russa said.

• Outfielder Luis González was optioned to the White Sox alternate training site in Schaumburg, Ill., to make room for Lance Lynn’s return from the 10-day injured list.

• Zack Collins will be behind the plate for Lucas Giolito’s start on Sunday, per La Russa’s comments.

• La Russa started Jake Lamb in left field and Leury García Saturday, sitting young standouts in Andrew Vaughn and Nick Madrigal. The White Sox manager talked with Vaughn and Madrigal about his choices.

“You need everybody on the roster,” La Russa said. “I like when they want to play every day, but everyone has got to contribute.”

They said it
“It’s pretty simple. Trusting your stuff. Trust the work you put in pregame. Trust the work you put in in the weight room. Everything you did all off-season and Spring Training and getting back to the basics. — Bummer, on working through any sort of struggles