Today is Minnie Minoso day in Chicago. No, really, the mayor proclaimed it so. The White Sox held a ceremony on the left-field concourse to unveil a statue of Minnie. Minnie is a goodwill ambassador for the team - I see him all the time around the park, signing autographs for people that remember. This statue is supposed to be the first of 5 over the next five years that will be unveiled at the park (no idea who the next 4 will be). The ceremony was really moving, with Minnie and his family around him. In fact, there were so many family members, they weren't allowed into the small area for the unveiling - they stood outside with the schlubs like me. Some snapshot items: Minnie was the first Black Ballplayer for the Sox, he played in 5 different decades in Major League Baseball, and then pushed it into another decade by playing for the St. Paul Saints in the independent Northern League June 30, 1993 (... doesn't Bill Veek's son own the team?) He was a seven-time American League All-Star and a three-time Gold Glove outfielder.

Minnie threw out the first pitch to fellow Cuban Jose Contreras. We've always joked that it seemed that every time you turned around, you saw Minnie. It was like he never left the park. Now, it will be true.

On the way back to my seat after the ceremony, I saw a gentleman walking by that looked really familiar. Sure enough, it was Vince Galloro, the author of a great White Sox blog that I read with regularity called Exile in Wrigleyville. If you're a Sox fan, please read his take on the team as well as his experiences. He's a good writer, someone that I consider has a fair view on the team. Go - visit his blog. (BTW - the only way I recognized him is because he had some pictures posted at his blog recently that he happened to be in - and he happened to be wearing the same black jersey and Sox hat, so he just stood out). However, I just realized that I never introduced myself, so I'm going to have to fire-off a quick email.

The game was again a good outing, nibbling away at Detroit. Freddy Garcia lasted 7 1/3 innings and gave up only 1 run with 8 strikeouts.

And even though it was another Kid's Day, with autographs and running the bases after the game, the fair weather fans have indeed turned their backs on the Sox - the attendance was only 19,269.

(Boxscore)