The first Afro-Latino in the major leagues and the first black player in White Sox history, as a 1951 rookie he was one of the first Latin Americans to play in an MLB All-Star Game.

A rare power threat on a team known for speed and defense, Miñoso also held the White Sox record for career home runs from 1956 to 1974.

In August of 2023, the former George B. McClellan Elementary School in the Bridgeport neighborhood in Chicago, was renamed Minnie Miñoso Academy.

He and the other candidates including former White Sox teammate Billy Pierce, and two other former players from Cuba, Tony Oliva and Luis Tiant, all missed induction in 2015.

Miñoso grew up playing baseball with two of his brothers and in fact managed his own team while working on his father's plantation, finding players and the necessary equipment himself.

They had little opportunity to get Miñoso into the lineup as a rookie, as they played Ken Keltner at third base, and he had only 16 at bats through May 13 before being sent to the minor leagues.

[12] On May 1, Miñoso became the first black player on the White Sox, hitting a 415-foot (126 m) home run in Comiskey Park on the first pitch of his first at bat against the New York Yankees.

Following the 1951 season, he finished second in the AL's Rookie of the Year voting behind the Yankees' Gil McDougald,[15][16] drawing a protest by the White Sox due to Miñoso having better statistics in nearly every category.

He led the AL in steals in both 1952 (22)[18] and 1953 (25),[19] and topped the league with 18 triples and 304 total bases in 1954,[20] appearing in the All-Star Game all three years and starting in 1954.

On May 18, 1955, Miñoso suffered a skull fracture from being hit in the head by a pitch from the Yankees' Bob Grim in the first inning of an 11–6 loss.

On September 2, 1956, he hit his 80th home run with the Sox, off Hank Aguirre, in a 4–3 win over the Indians, breaking Zeke Bonura's team record.

On September 23, 1957, in a 6–5 road loss to the Athletics, he became the first player to hit 100 home runs with the White Sox, connecting in the fourth inning off Alex Kellner.

[29] With Cleveland, Miñoso hit a career high 24 home runs in 1958, and again led AL left fielders with 13 assists.

[30] He batted .302 in both 1958 and 1959, and on April 21, 1959, had a career-high five hits in a 14–1 road win against the Detroit Tigers, also driving in six runs for the second time in his career.

He was involved in a notable incident in a road game against the Boston Red Sox on July 17 that year when Indians manager Joe Gordon was ejected after an interference call on the previous batter, but continued his argument instead of leaving the field; Miñoso refused to enter the batter's box while Gordon was still arguing, and became furious when plate umpire Frank Umont called him out on three strikes.

Miñoso was then ejected after throwing his bat at Umont, but apologized profusely after the game, saying he was unaware of the rule that any pitch in that situation must be called a strike regardless of its location; he served a three-game suspension.

Miñoso was deeply disappointed over having missed playing for the White Sox during their 1959 pennant-winning season, and was thrilled to be traded back to Chicago in a seven-player deal in December, with Norm Cash being the top player sent in return.

He also had perhaps his best defensive season, leading all major league left fielders in putouts (277), assists (14) and double plays (3) and winning his third and final Gold Glove Award.

[39] After struggling to adjust to his new league's pitchers and strike zone, he missed two months of the 1962 season due to suffering a fractured skull and broken wrist from crashing into the outfield wall in the sixth inning of an 8–5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 11,[40] and finished the year hitting .196.

[44] He also made three game appearances for the Sox that September in games against the California Angels, picking up one single in eight at-bats (four coming as a designated hitter) — a two-out single off Sid Monge on September 12 in the second inning of a 2–1, 10-inning win, becoming, at age 52, the fourth oldest player ever to get a base hit in the major leagues.

[48] When the last game was played at Comiskey Park during the same season, Miñoso was invited to present the White Sox lineup card to the umpires in the pregame ceremonies at home plate.

[5] A funeral service was held for him at Holy Family Church in Chicago on March 7, with over 1,000 dignitaries, officials, friends and fans in attendance.

[57][58] Miñoso is buried at Chicago's historic Graceland Cemetery and his graveside monument, in the shape of a baseball diamond, was unveiled in July 2024.

[61] Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated has written that Miñoso's Hall of Fame candidacy may have been damaged by the publicity stunt game appearances in his later life.

He said that the biggest question for Hall of Fame voters would be how much potential major league production was taken away from Miñoso because baseball was not integrated at the outset of his career.

[63] Since 2011, the Baseball Writers' Association of America's (BBWAA) Historical Overview Committee serves as the Hall's screening committee every three years to identify ten long-retired players, managers, umpires, or executives (living or deceased) from the "Golden Era" (1947–1973) for possible induction into the Hall of Fame .

[64] In order to be inducted, any of ten candidates on the ballot must receive at least 12 of 16 votes cast by the 16-member Golden Era Committee at the MLB Winter Meeting in December.