He Doesn’t Know Talent Is Timeless

OK, you tell me:

Why is it OK for Lyle Alzado to attempt again to play professional football, or for Mark Spitz to make a comeback in competitive swimming, or for George Foreman to return to boxing, but not OK for Minnie Minoso to step one more time into a major league batter’s box?

Why is it OK not to age-discriminate against somebody in his or her 30s or 40s, but not be prejudiced against a man in his 60s?

Why is it OK for Fay Vincent to do whatever work he chooses to do at his age, but not OK for a beautiful gray panther born to the name of Orestes Arrieta Armas Saturino Minoso to be employed by the Chicago White Sox in any capacity they see fit?

Discrimination, pure and simple.

Minnie Minoso, 68--or, if you ask Minnie, 66--is being robbed of his chance to become the first man to play big league baseball in six decades, for no better reason than somebody younger than he has decided that he is too old.

Fay Vincent, who has been very good for baseball, is way off base here.

Let Minnie play.

The White Sox activating Minoso would be bad for “the integrity of the game,” Vincent ruled.

I just hope nobody ever does to the commissioner what he is doing to Minnie Minoso.

“Fay, you’re old, so you’re out.”

As a person still in his 30s who continues to envy the work of colleagues in their 60s and 70s, I take vehement objection to the directive passed down last Friday by the commissioner of baseball, denying the old White Sox hero permission to participate in this, the final week of baseball’s oldest stadium, Comiskey Park.

Minoso has been working out. He is in fine shape. Dan Pasqua lent him a bat, Ivan Calderon a glove. They are more than willing to be Minnie’s teammates for a day.

Ozzie Guillen insinuated, quite correctly, that the title race was no time for the White Sox to be talking about playing Minoso. Fine. But the race in Chicago’s division is over. The Sox are not going to finish in first place and are not going to fall to third. A couple of at-bats for Minnie Minoso would disturb nothing.

Let Minnie play.

The principal objections seem to be these:

--That letting Minoso play would be a joke.

Hey, we aren’t talking about someone who doesn’t belong on a ballfield. We aren’t talking about some owner activating his 16-year-old, violin-playing nephew to face Nolan Ryan. We are talking about a gentleman who is fit, has all his faculties and had 1,963 hits over 17 seasons.

The “joke” is that Minnie is too old, which to me isn’t the least bit funny.

--That Minnie might be hurt.

Let me tell you something: Baseball officials shouldn’t be so worried about some pitcher hurting Minnie. They should worry about Minnie hurting some pitcher. He smacks one of those line drives of his, he will snap some southpaw’s cap.

Besides, we’re not asking Minnie to start in center field for a three-game series. We’re asking for maybe two at-bats as a designated hitter. What’s the big deal?

Minnie took it well.

“Sure, I’m disappointed,” he said. “Maybe the commissioner will let me play in the year 2000.”

No, maybe in the year 2000, Fay Vincent will get put out to pasture by some whippersnapper who thinks the old dude has gone senile.

Integrity of the game? Come on. This is just baseball, man. This is a business where grown-ups kick dirt on umpires and spit on the carpet. This is a game that gives managers permission to use outfielders as pitchers if the score gets out of hand. What kind of integrity is that?

Phil Niekro, Tommy John, Pete Rose, Ryan . . . a lot of gifted athletes have played with distinction in their 40s. Some others in their 40s have struggled. But nobody told them they could or couldn’t play; nobody forbade them to play.

Minnie Minoso singled against the California Angels when he was 53. Fifty-three.

He is the oldest player ever to get a base hit in a big league game. He wants to see if he can top himself. Is that so awful? Does that make Minnie Minoso a joke? In my book, it makes him a competitor.

He isn’t hurting a soul.

“I’m not trying to play to prove anything to anybody,” Minoso said. “I’m just in pretty good condition to play and to set a record no one has done.”

Nobody tells “seniors” they can’t play professional golf. Nobody tells Ray Leonard he can’t box. Nobody tells Bjorn Borg he would hurt the integrity of tennis. Nobody tells George Allen he’s too old to coach. Nobody orders George Burns to get off the stage.

After drugs, brawls, the Rose affair, the George Steinbrenner affair, the Wade Boggs affair, you would think baseball could use a nice story for a change.

Hey, Fay. Let Minnie play.