Mr Cub R.I.P.
 

Baseball lost a true gentleman yesterday. Ernie Banks, hall of famer and two time MVP will be missed. "Let's play two" showed his love for the game.

He was the greatest!

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A very nice, enthusiastic, gentleman. One of the great slugging shortstops.

RIP - Erniie

I can't believe he's dead. He's still thirty something, still playing and smiling in my mind's eye. I don't think I ever someone love the game as much as he. May baseball find more like this man. A class act all the way. RIP

It was quite a shock to hear of Mr. Cub's passing last night. This story has dominated the Chicago news since then. I only got to see him play a couple of times towards the of his career when my dad and I traveled to Chicago to see the Cubs play. He was quite a trail blazer and a true gentleman.

One Chicago radio host said this morning: "Ron Santo is now showing Ernie Banks around the clubhouse at that great baseball stadium in the sky."

I wish he could have played in a World Series.

It would have been nice but when the Cubbies do finally make it, you know Ernie will be rooting his team on and maybe his ghost will be fielding a ball or two.

Mr Cub R.I.P.
 

Probably loved by more fans of other teams than any other player I can think of. It'll be double headers for him from now on...and he deserves the best.

It's a shame a great player like Ernie never had a good team around him. I've always felt that he and Ralph Kiner deserved better. R.I.P. to a class act.

Minnie Minoso
 

Chicago's first black major league baseball player, Orestes "Minnie" Minoso, passed away this morning. He was an exciting player to watch. He could hit with power but still lay down a bunt. Quick in the outfield and on the bases also. RIP Minnie.

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Mr. White Sox - RIP

Another great Chicago baseball player passing.

RIP - Minnie

The name Minnie Minoso brings back memories because of a game played on June 10, 1959. I can remember the date because it was a game in which Indian Rocky Colavito hit 4 homeruns.

Growing up in Baltimore and a big O's fan, my dad told me we were moving to Florida that fall. It didn't come as a big shock because every summer we took our vacation to Florida. We made our last trip to see an Orioles game that June 10, 1959 against the Cleveland Indians. We sat in the left field bleachers at old Memorial Stadium, the Orioles home from 1954 until Camden Yards opened in 1992.

The whole game our section razed leftfielder Minnie Minoso. He never gave anybody any notice no matter how loud the chants and crowd got. Rocky Colavito was having a career day with 4 home runs. Infielder Billy Martin of the Indians got thrown out for arguing with the home plate umpire.

With all the runs being scored by both teams, final score was Indians winners 11-8, Minnie got up late in the game and socked a homerun in our direction. The next time he took leftfield we all started razing him again, and somebody said where did you get all the power from. Minnie finally turned around to the leftfield fans, and flexed his left arm and pointed to his muscle. I never forgot that day at Memorial Stadium with my late father.

You can see the Indians had quite a lineup that day with the likes of Vic Power, Tito Francona, Rocky Colavito, Minnie Minoso and Billy Martin.

Cleveland Indians
Name Pos AB R H RBI

Woodie Held ss 5 1 1 0
Vic Power 1b 4 1 0 0
Tito Francona cf 5 2 2 1
Rocky Colavito rf 4 5 4 6
Minnie Minoso lf 5 1 3 3
Willie Jones 3b 3 0 0 0
George Stickland 3b 2 0 1 0
Dick Brown c 4 0 1 0
Billy Martin 2b 3 1 1 1
a-Ray Webster ph 1 0 0 0
Gary Bell p 3 0 0 0
Mike Garcia p 1 0 0 0
Totals 40 11 13 11

June 10 is my birthday and as a young Tribe fan living in Cleveland that night lives in my memory. I met The Rock in the 70s and thanked him for one of the best birthday presents.

Minnie was always fun to watch. I can still mimic his batting stance. He was a great member of the Tribe as well as the White Sox.

Here's a 1959 baseball card image:

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