Alexei Ramirez salutes late Minnie Minoso with uniform tribute

CHICAGO -- Major League Baseball had no issue with Alexei Ramirez's impromptu uniform tribute to Minnie Minoso on Friday, calling the move by the Chicago White Sox shortstop "wonderful."

Instead of his usual No. 10 jersey, Ramirez wore a No. 9 with Minnie Minoso's last name across the back. Minoso, the former White Sox great and, like Ramirez, a Cuba native, died March 1.

Ramirez cleared the idea with the team, and that was good enough for the league. Normally, changing a uniform number or name on the back of a jersey would have to be met with league approval, but an MLB spokesperson said this was a "nonissue," calling it "a wonderful tribute to Minoso."

Ramirez felt inspired to make the tribute.

"My relation with Minnie was beyond the field," Ramirez said through an interpreter after the game. "When I heard the news about his death, I thought that I had to do something to give him my tribute. And I kept in communication with the family and I asked them to wear his number today, and they accepted. For me, it's an honor."

Ramirez is expected to wear his regular uniform in Saturday's game against the Minnesota Twins, but he will keep Friday's uniform in his home to remember the occasion.

Minoso was a seven-time All-Star and broke the White Sox's color barrier in 1951. He retired in 1964, although he had two brief on-field stints with the club in 1976 and '80.