Joseph Black (February 8, 1924 - May 17, 2002) was an
American right-handed
pitcher in
Negro League and
Major League Baseball for the
Brooklyn Dodgers,
Cincinnati Redlegs, and
Washington Senators who became the first black pitcher to win a
World Series game, in 1952. Black died of
prostate cancer at age 78.
A native of Plainfield, New Jersey, he starred at Plainfield High School. Black attended on a baseball scholarship and graduated from Morgan State University in 1950 and later received an honorary doctorate from Shaw University. He was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, inc. He appears prominently in Roger Kahn's classic book, The Boys of Summer. Black's life in baseball and beyond is more fully chronicled in the biography, Meet the Real Joe Black, by Steven Michael Selzer (iUniverse, 2010).
Negro and minor leagues
Black helped the
Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro Leagues win 2 championships in 7 years. He and
Jackie Robinson pushed for a pension plan for Negro League players and was instrumental in the inclusion of players who played before 1947. Black then played for a year in the Brooklyn Dodgers'
minor league system.
Call up to Brooklyn
The Dodgers promoted Black to the major leagues in 1952, five years after teammate Jackie Robinson broke baseball's
color barrier. Black was 28 when he reached the majors. He roomed with Jackie while with Brooklyn, and was dominant out of the bullpen, chosen
Rookie of the Year after winning 15 games and saving 15 others for the National League champions. He had a 2.15 ERA but, with 142 innings pitched, fell 8 innings short of winning the ERA title.
Strapped for pitching, Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen brought Black out of the bullpen and started him 3 times in 7 days in the 1952 World Series against the New York Yankees. He won the opener with a 6-hitter over Allie Reynolds, 4-2, then lost the 4th game, 2-0, and the 7th, 4-2.
Black's decline
The next spring after the World Series, Dressen urged Black to add some pitches to his strong fastball and tight curve. He tried, but lost control of his two basic pitches in the process and didn't regain his dominance until 1955. After three more seasons with Brooklyn, Black drifted to Cincinnati and Washington and was out of baseball by 1958. In 6 seasons, he compiled a 30-12 record, half of his wins coming in his rookie season.
After baseball
After his career ended, Black taught health and physical education at Hubbard Junior High School in Plainfield, N.J., and later became an executive with Greyhound in
Phoenix, Arizona.
In addition to lobbying for black players, he remained in baseball through his affiliation with the commissioner's office, where he consulted with players about career choices.
He was a board director of the Baseball Assistance Team and worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks in community relations after they joined the NL in 1998. Black was a regular in the Diamondbacks' dugout during batting practice and in the press box. He also did a lot of charity work in the Phoenix area.
He wrote a syndicated column, "By The Way," for Ebony magazine and an autobiography, Ain't Nobody Better Than You.
Black was interred in the Hillside Cemetery of Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
Comments on Black
"Joe Black was a tremendous human being," Arizona manager
Bob Brenly said. "He always had positive words for me. His parting words were always, `Make sure you do it your way.' He must have told me that a hundred times last year. "He was a diehard Diamondbacks fan. He loved this team and I'm just glad we had a chance to win a World Series for him."
"He was a Dodger, but he was a giant of a man," former NL president Len Coleman said. "He was the greatest friend, and his loss leaves the world a lot more empty."
"His legacy is the thought that unheralded players can rise to the heights, that someone who at the time was considered an ordinary athlete could wind up pitching Game 1 of the World Series," said Vin Scully, the Dodgers' play-by-play announcer since 1951.
"He loved the game and he loved to talk the game," said Montreal manager Frank Robinson, who was friends with Black and visited him this month when the Expos were in Phoenix. "He was a great guy, a jolly guy, a real fun guy," said New York Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer, a teammate with the Dodgers. "It's sad to lose him."
Honors and awards
The
Arizona Fall League's Most Valuable Player award is named for Black. First presented in 2002, the award honors the 1952 National League Rookie of the Year.
Beginning in 2010, the Washington Nationals will present the Joe Black Award to a Washington area organization chosen for its work promoting baseball in African-American communities. The award recognizes Black as the first African American player on the Washington Senators (1957).
References
External links
Baseball Almanac
The Deadball Era
Historic Baseball
Meet the Real Joe Black Biography
| after = Jim Gilliam}}
Category:1924 births
Category:2002 deaths
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
Category:Brooklyn Dodgers players
Category:Cincinnati Redlegs players
Category:Washington Senators players
Category:Baseball players from New Jersey
Category:Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners
Category:African American baseball players
Category:People from Plainfield, New Jersey
Category:Montreal Royals players
Category:St. Paul Saints (AA) players
Category:Seattle Rainiers players
Category:Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players
