White Sox Legend Passes: Hot Stove 3/2

News

Former White Sox superstar Minnie Minoso passed away at 92 years old.

37 year old base stealing great Juan Pierre announced his retirement after 14 major league seasons. He claims his only regret was that he didn’t reach 20 career home runs, and that a three year contract should give him enough time to smack the two more he needs to reach the milestone.

White Sox starter Chris Sale fractured his foot in a freak accident at home and will miss three weeks.

A month after Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks passed away, another Chicago legend followed. Minnie Minoso, the ever-popular face of the White Sox. Minoso, Chicago’s first black player as well as the first black Cuban in Major League Baseball, lit up baseball fields everywhere with his amazing play and his colorful personality. Over his 17 year career, Minoso established himself as one of the greatest players in White Sox history.Minoso grew up on a sugarcane plantation near Havana, and by 1945, he was playing in the Cuban leagues. In 1946, he joined the New York Black Cubans of the Negro Leagues, where he became one of the stars of the league. In 1949, Minoso made his debut with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black Cuban in major league history. Though he was 26 at the time of his debut, he would become the second player in history to appear in five decades, playing his final game in 1980. In a nine game debut with the Indians, he hit just .188 with one home run. After spending all of 1950 in the minors, he was sent to the White Sox after just eight games in 1951. Between the two teams, Minoso would have a huge breakout year where he batted .326 with 10 home runs, 76 RBI, 112 runs scored, and an AL leading 31 stolen bases in 146 games. He just barely missed out on the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Spending a full season with the White Sox in 1952, he returned to bat .281 with 13 home runs, 61 RBI, 96 runs, and an AL leading 22 stolen bases. He had another huge year in 1953, batting .313 with 15 home runs, 104 RBI, 104 runs scored, and an AL leading 25 stolen bases, cementing himself as a star. In 1954, the 31 year old had his best season yet, batting .320 with 19 home runs, 116 RBI, 119 runs scored, and 18 stolen bases. He was hit in the head by a pitch in 1955, fracturing his skull, and the ensuing down year would see him bat “just” .288 with 10 home runs, 70 RBI, and 19 stolen bases. However, he returned in 1956 for a big time bounceback season, batting .316 with 21 home runs, 88 RBI, 106 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases. In 1957, Minoso hit .310 with 12 home runs, 103 RBI, and 18 stolen bases. He also set a career high with 36 doubles. On the other side of the ball, 1957 marked the first year Gold Gloves were given out, and Minoso became the first left fielder to take home the award. However, despite his immense popularity, he was traded back to the Indians in 1958. The change in ballparks helped his power numbers, as he finished with a career high 24 home runs while driving in 80, batting .302, and stealing 14 bases. In 1959, he hit .302 with 21 home runs, 92 RBI, and eight stolen bases for the Indians. However, his old White Sox won the AL pennant, and Minoso was deeply disappointed to miss out. Fortunately for both him and White Sox Nation, he was traded back for the 1960 season, and he proceeded to bat .311 with 20 home runs, 105 RBI, and 17 stolen bases. In 1961, his age 38 season, he hit .280 with 14 home runs and 82 RBI, scoring 91 runs. He was sent to the Cardinals in 1962, and missed significant time after crashing into an outfield wall. Over just 39 games, he hit .196 with one home run and four stolen bases. Sent to the Senators for the 1963 season, he struggled again, batting just .229 with four home runs and eight stolen bases in 109 games. After being released, he signed with the White Sox for the 1964 season, and in 30 games, he batted just .226 with one home run. Afterwards, the 42 year old left the majors for the Mexican League. In 1976, while serving as a base coach for the White Sox, the 50 year old came out of retirement and garnered one hit in eight at bats. Four years later, at 54 years old, he pinch hit twice, but did not collect a hit. Minoso retired with 186 home runs, 1023 RBI, a .298 average, 1136 runs, and 205 stolen bases over 1835 games. His 893 runs scored and .397 on-base percentage as a member of the White Sox are the fifth most in team history, while his 79 triples are sixth and his .865 OPS is seventh. He is the all time team leader with 145 hit by pitches. Overall, his 192 hit by pitches are ninth in major league history, and his 189 as an AL player are second in league history only to Don Baylor’s 267. He is one of two players to appear in game’s in five decades (1940’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s), joining Nick Altrock (1898-1933).

Over his 14 year career from 2000-2013, Juan Pierre was never exactly a power threat, but the run scoring machine established himself as one of the premier base stealing threats in the 2000’s. Pierre grew up in Alexandria, Louisiana, After playing baseball at the University of South Alabama, he joined the Rockies as a 13th round draft pick. In 2000, he made his major league debut a week before his 23rd birthday, and hit .310 with seven stolen bases in 51 games. 2001 was his first full season, and the 23 year old speedster did not disappoint, batting .327 with two home runs, 108 runs scored, 11 triples, and an NL leading 46 stolen bases. He continued to tear up the base paths in 2002, batting .287 with 47 stolen bases and 90 runs scored. After the season, he was sent to the Florida Marlins with Mike Hampton in exchange for a package of prospects. In South Beach, he hit .305, scored 100 runs, and a major league leading 65 stolen bases. He also struck out only 35 times in 668 at bats. Pierre was a huge contributor to the World Series run, as he batted .301 with seven RBI, 12 runs scored, and three stolen bases over 17 playoff games. In 2004, Pierre had one of his best seasons, batting .326 with a career high three home runs, 100 runs scored, and 45 stolen bases in 162 games. He hit just .276 in 2005, but he still scored 100 runs, tripled 12 times, and stole 57 bases. He was traded to the Cubs for the 2006 season, and he batted .292 with three home runs, 87 runs scored, 58 stolen bases, and 13 triples in his only season on the North Side. After the season, he signed a five year, $44 million deal with the Dodgers, and he hit .293 with 96 runs scored and 64 stolen bases in his first season, 2007. In 2008, injuries forced Pierre to miss games for the first time since 2002, ending of 821 consecutive games (though a pinch running appearance in 2005 technically split the streak in half, despite him having appeared in the game). Had the pinch running appearance counted, it would have been the eleventh longest streak in major league history. Pierre finished the 2008 season having played in 119 games, batting .283 with 40 stolen bases. In 2009, the 31 year old hit .308 with 30 stolen bases in 145 games, and he was traded to the White Sox after the season. There, he batted .275, scored 96 runs, and led the major leagues with 68 stolen bases, a career high. In 2011, age began to catch up with the 33 year old speedster, when he hit .279 with 80 runs scored but stole only 27 bases in 158 games. The Phillies signed him to a minor league deal in 2012, and he proceeded to have somewhat of a bounce-back year by hitting .307 with 37 stolen bases in 130 games. Joining the Marlins on a one year deal in 2013, he hit just .247 with 23 stolen bases in 113 games. After not signing during the 2014 season, he announced his retirement. For his career, Pierre batted .295 with 18 home runs, 517 RBI, 1075 runs scored, and 614 stolen bases in 1994 games. His 614 stolen bases are 18th on the all time list. Despite playing only four years with the Marlins, he is third on their all time stolen base list at 190, and his 65 stolen bases in 2003 are a single season team record.

Free Agent Signings

Dodgers signed Mike Adams (2-1, 2.89 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 2015 age: 36-37) to a minor league deal.

Blue Jays signed Dayan Viciedo (21 HR, 58 RBI, .231 AVG, 0 SB, 2015 age: 26) to a minor league deal.

Nationals signed Tony Gwynn Jr. (0 HR, 3 RBI, .152 AVG, 3 SB, 2015 age: 32) to a minor league deal.

Nationals signed Rich Hill (0-0, 3.38 ERA, 2.44 WHIP, 2015 age: 35) to a minor league deal.

The Nats added a speedy runner in Tony Gwynn Jr. The son of the Padres legend of the same name, Gwynn has had success as a base stealer in the past. He likely will not crack the Nationals’ Opening Day roster, but he could be called up as a back up outfielder in the case of injuries. Gwynn had his best year in 2009, when he batted .270 with two home runs, 59 runs scored, and 11 stolen bases in 119 games for the Padres. In 2011, he hit .256 with two home runs, 22 RBI, and 22 stolen bases in 136 games for the Dodgers. He played 80 games with the Phillies last year, batting .152 with three stolen bases and 14 runs scored before being released. For his career, the San Diego State University product has hit seven home runs, driven in 98, scored 192 runs, and batted .238 with 80 stolen bases over 685 games.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K’s: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman