Minoso collected 4,000-plus hits during pro career

CHICAGO -- All of the talk surrounding Ichiro Suzuki reaching the elite 4,000 hit club has produced research that shows Minnie Minoso also is a member.

According to Scott Simkus of the Society for American Baseball Research, Minoso ranks sixth all-time behind Pete Rose (4,769), Ty Cobb (4,379), Hank Aaron (4,245), Jigger Statz (4,093) and Julio Franco (4,074) when factoring in all of Minoso's professional hits. The White Sox legend had 1,963 Major League hits, 429 in the Minor Leagues, 838 in the Cuban League, 715 in the Mexican League and at least 128 documented hits in the Negro Leagues. Those numbers add up to 4,073 hits for his career.

Minoso ranks ninth on the White Sox hits list with 1,523. He is scheduled to be in attendance for Saturday's Civil Rights Game festivities, with this seventh such event being hosted by the White Sox, as Minoso stands as the first black player for the White Sox and Major League Baseball's first black Latino to suit up. He strongly supports MLB's role in the civil rights movement.

"I believe that everybody right now, they aren't looking what nationality you are, what race you are or what color you are. They are looking at what you do like a human," said Minoso in a recent interview. "That's the only thing that you ask in this kind of case. Everyone is trying to win a baseball game."