1924
Born February 8, 1924
Plainfield, NJ, USA
Joe Black Marquee
b. February 8, 1924 · Baltimore Elite Giants 1943–1948, Brooklyn Dodgers 1952–1955, Cincinnati Redlegs 1955–1956, Washington Senators 1957
He pitched for the Baltimore Elite Giants for six seasons before Brooklyn signed him in 1952, at twenty-eight, and he went 15-4 with a 2.15 earned run average and 15 saves that year, taking the Rookie of the Year award unanimously and finishing third in the Most Valuable Player voting. He started and won the first game of that year's World Series against the Yankees, the first Black pitcher ever to win a World Series game, though Brooklyn lost the Series in seven.
He never repeated that season; arm trouble and the demands the Dodgers placed on him in his rookie year wore him down quickly. Twelve major-league seasons gave him 44 wins, 30 saves, 806 innings and a 3.72 earned run average, on top of the years the color line kept off his record.
He finished with Washington in 1957 at thirty-three, then worked as a teacher, an executive at Greyhound, and an advocate for player rights in retirement. He died in 2002, at seventy-eight.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Negro Leagues East-West Classic | 2 | 1947, 1948 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1952 |
| The Sporting News Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1952 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | BEG | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1944 | BEG | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| 1945 | BEG | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1946 | BEG | 25 | 40 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| 1947 | BEG | 23 | 47 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .277 |
| 1948 | BEG | 19 | 43 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .209 |
| 1952 | BRO | 57 | 36 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | .139 |
| 1953 | BRO | 34 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .235 |
| 1954 | BRO | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1955 | BRO/CIN | 38 | 33 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .121 |
| 1956 | CIN | 34 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .000 |
| 1957 | WSH | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 248 | 234 | 16 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 38 | 1 | .188 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | BEG | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6.00 |
| 1944 | BEG | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12.2 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 7.82 |
| 1945 | BEG | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5.14 |
| 1946 | BEG | 6 | 9 | 24 | 15 | 1 | 126.0 | 114 | 53 | 50 | 69 | 3.79 |
| 1947 | BEG | 5 | 10 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 130.0 | 138 | 58 | 58 | 65 | 4.02 |
| 1948 | BEG | 8 | 3 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 113.1 | 82 | 25 | 36 | 85 | 1.99 |
| 1952 | BRO | 15 | 4 | 56 | 2 | 15 | 142.1 | 102 | 34 | 41 | 85 | 2.15 |
| 1953 | BRO | 6 | 3 | 34 | 3 | 5 | 72.2 | 74 | 43 | 27 | 42 | 5.33 |
| 1954 | BRO | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 11.57 |
| 1955 | BRO/CIN | 6 | 2 | 38 | 11 | 3 | 117.2 | 121 | 53 | 30 | 63 | 4.05 |
| 1956 | CIN | 3 | 2 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 61.2 | 61 | 31 | 25 | 27 | 4.52 |
| 1957 | WSH | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 | 22 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7.11 |
| Career | — | 49 | 36 | 241 | 59 | 30 | 806.0 | 760 | 333 | 281 | 454 | 3.72 |
On this day & linked events
2002
Died May 17, 2002
1952
Major-league debut: Joe Black
Joe Black made a major-league debut on May 1, 1952.
1957
Final major-league game: Joe Black
Joe Black played a final major-league game on September 11, 1957.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain