Sox fans rejoiced at this week’s news that “Mr. White Sox” Minnie Miñoso has been granted a spot in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

The “Cuban Comet” broke the color line for the White Sox when he joined the team in 1951. He was selected for induction by the Golden Days Era committee on Sunday, and University of Illinois professor Adrian Burgos Jr. says, it’s an honor that was long overdue.

“The story of Minnie Miñoso is important not just to Chicago baseball fans, but it’s a national story. Here you have a player who was the first Black Latino in Major League Baseball, but also it’s the story of bringing us from the era of segregation into integration. He was the bridge and he was not just the first, he was an all-star. He excelled,” said Burgos. “And it’s that story – the story of persevering in the face of the language barrier, the cultural adjustment and becoming a Chicago fan favorite, but also throughout the Caribbean. Orlando Cepeda called him our Jackie Robinson, and his election to the Hall of Fame reflects that meaningful place that he holds among Latinos, and also in baseball history.”