Minoso's Age

An excerpt from The Black Stars Who Made Baseball Whole

In 1994, Minoso's autobiography Just Call Me Minnie was published. It contained the surprising assertion by Minnie that he'd actually been born three years later than the November 29, 1922 birth date carried on most official baseball records. Throughout Minnie's career, there'd been confusion regarding his true age. When the Sox reacquired him from Cleveland, three Chicago newspapers listed different ages for him in announcing the deal. Early in his career his birth date was listed as 11/22/1923, but sometime in the mid-1950s it got set back a year. Now Minnie was saying it should have been moved up two years.

The age of many Negro League players was the subject of much confusion when the doors to organized baseball were first opened to them. Many veterans who'd been denied an earlier opportunity felt understandably justified in knocking a few years off their age to enhance their appeal to the major leagues. Often the question was not whether, but how many years had been shaved off? For instance, the widely respected Billy Bruton admitted to being two years older than his official baseball age of 34 upon his retirement in 1964. Billy then proceeded to gain another two years in retirement as current records now list his age at 38 when he hung up his spikes.

Which leads to the question of "Why, with age such a critical factor in determining present and future worth in baseball, would a player permit his age to be overstated by three years throughout his career?" Cuban-born Minnie may have been somewhat naive to American ways, but it's difficult to believe that he didn't realize that it was hurting him for baseball executives to think he was three years older than he actually was. One tongue-in-cheek explanation for Minnie's startling confession was that the old-timer might be discounting his age in preparation for another comeback.

Sure enough, on July 17, 2003 Minnie appeared as a pinch-hitter for the St. Paul Saints, still an independent league team. He extended his own record to become the only player ever to appear in professional baseball games during seven decades. Several news releases reported Minnie's age as 77 at the time, although official baseball records still list November 22, 1922 as the old Cuban Comet's date of birth.

Links to other related articles:
Minnie Minoso for the Hall of Fame
The Forgotten Generation