Kahrl: As MLB heads back to Cuba, Minnie Minoso’s legacy lives on

From SABR member Christina Kahrl at ESPN.com on March 19, 2016:

This is a story of the missing man, of an opportunity just missed, of kismet unmet. That’s because, as Major League Baseball prepares to embark upon its return to Cuba in a classic bit of baseball diplomacy between two countries with an abiding interest in the game, the one man who personified that shared love of baseball will be absent. Minnie Minoso, one of MLB’s best players in the 1950s, passed away last year at the age of 92 (ish).

“It’s definitely bittersweet,” said Charlie Minoso, Minnie’s youngest son. “I always hoped my father would be involved in some way, as a goodwill ambassador. I’m happy to see this game coming to fruition after all these decades, but for me it’s a little incomplete because he’s not there.”

Born outside of Havana but eventually a star who shone brightest in Chicago, Minoso was the one person whose baseball legacy fully belongs to both Cuba and the United States, and even though it’s has been almost 70 years since he left the land of his birth, Cuban ballplayers vouch for the permanence of his legacy there.

Read the full article here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/springtraining_minoso/as-mlb-heads-back-cuba-minnie-minoso-legacy-joy-lives-on



Originally published: March 20, 2016. Last Updated: March 20, 2016.