First Black Baseball Player in Chicago Dies

Major League Baseball's first black player in Chicago, Minnie Minoso, has died.

There is some question about the White Sox legend's age, but his family said he was 90.

Minoso was found unresponsive in the driver's seat of his car near a Chicago petrol station shortly after midnight, said police.

His family told the Chicago Tribune they believe he had suffered a heart attack.

Minoso was not Major League Baseball's first black player - that distinction went to Jackie Robinson, who broke the colour line for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

But Minoso, a Cuban-born left fielder, belonged to the vanguard of black players who transformed post-war America's favourite pastime.

White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement: "Our organisation and our city have suffered a heart-breaking loss today.

"We have lost our dear friend and a great man. Many tears are falling."

Minoso, nicknamed the Cuban Comet, made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1949.

The seven-time All-Star took to the field with the White Sox two years later where he was that franchise's first black player.

In Chicago, he hit a stellar batting average of .304 with 135 home runs and 808 runs batted in.

There is a statue of him at the White Sox's US Cellular Field.

Minoso is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.