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'Beisbol' Exhibit Highlights African American And Hispanic Ballplayers

CHICAGO (CBS) -- CBS 2 got a sneak peek at some "beisbol" history coming to the South Side.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum has a traveling exhibit highlighting the connection between African American baseball history and Hispanic cultures.

A key figure of the artifacts is Sox great Minnie Minoso, the first black Cuban in the major leagues. Minoso's wife Sharon and son Charlie were touched by the display.

"Seeing that he still left his mark, not just here at the ballpark, but here in Chicago, throughout the baseball community, the African American, the Latino and the Afro-Latino communities as well," said Charlie Rice-Minoso. "He might be gone physically but certainly not forgotten."

"He was the literal bridge that took us from the era of segregation into the era of integration," said Adrian Burgos, Jr., historian and editor-in-chief of "La Vida Beisbol."

"And one of the things that makes Minnie's contribution to baseball history, even his performance on the field all the more outstanding is that he had to deal with what it meant to be a black man, an Afro-Latino from Cuba, while being an awesome All-Star all the time."

The Negro Leagues "Beisbol" exhibit will be on display at the Chicago Sports Depot, located near gate five at Guaranteed Rate Field starting Friday through September 26th.

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