Joe Black

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1952-1957)

W–L 49–36
ERA 3.72
WHIP 1.29
SO 454
Pitcher PIV 8131.0
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'2" / 220 lb
Born
2/8/1924 in Plainfield, NJ, USA
Died
5/17/2002 in Scottsdale, AZ, USA
MLB Debut
1952-05-01
Last Game
1957-09-11
Awards
2× All-Star · Rookie of the Year

Full name: Joseph Black

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
239.0 228.0 22.0 46.0 4.0 2.0 2.0 15.0 6.0 0 2.0 .202 .226 .263 .489

Pitching

W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
38 33 72 49 30 5 623.2 620 318 125 18 189 271 1.80 1.30

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1949 61.0 61.0 10.0 14.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 10.0 0 0 1.0 .230 .230 .410 .640
1950 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Listed seasons · 2 62 62 10 14 1 2 2 10 0 0 1 .226 — — —

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
1949 9 7 16 12 4 2 135.2 159 74 51 9 27 38 3.38 1.37
1950 0 0 1 0 0 0 3.0 4 2 1 0 1 0 3.00 1.67
Listed seasons · 2 9 7 17 12 4 2 138.2 163 76 52 9 28 38 3.38 1.38

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
49 36 241 59 29 2 30 806.0 760 333 64 281 454 3.72 8131.0

Career ERA 3.72 vs. league average 3.82 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1943 BEG NN2 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 3.0 8 2 2 5 6.00 — 0.0
1944 BEG NN2 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 12.7 22 11 2 3 7.82 3.57 (-119%) -116.1
1945 BEG NN2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 7.0 5 4 4 5 5.14 — 0.0
1946 BEG NN2 6 9 24 15 8 0 1 126.0 114 53 50 69 3.79 3.59 (-5%) 1632.6
1947 BEG NN2 5 10 22 13 10 0 3 130.0 138 58 58 65 4.02 3.97 (-1%) 1717.7
1948 BEG NN2 8 3 17 12 8 2 1 113.3 82 25 36 85 1.99 4.10 (+52%) 4372.2
1952 BRO NL 15 4 56 2 1 0 15 142.3 102 34 41 85 2.15 3.70 (+42%) 2931.3
1953 BRO NL 6 3 34 3 0 0 5 72.7 74 43 27 42 5.33 4.14 (-29%) -1091.1
1954 BRO NL 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 7.0 11 9 5 3 11.57 — 0.0
1955 BRO NL 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 15.3 15 5 5 9 2.93 4.00 (+27%) 376.2
1955 CIN NL 5 2 32 11 1 0 3 102.3 106 48 25 54 4.22 4.00 (-6%) 788.2
1956 CIN NL 3 2 32 0 0 0 2 61.7 61 31 25 27 4.52 3.96 (-14%) -1640.8
1957 WS1 AL 0 1 7 0 0 0 0 12.7 22 10 1 2 7.11 3.83 (-85%) -839.1
Career · 13 seasons 49 36 241 59 29 2 30 806.0 760 333 281 454 3.72 — 8,131

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
248 234 16 44 3 0 0 17 1 10 38 .188 .231 .201 .432 -112

Career AVG .188 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 27.5% below league average.

Career OBP .231 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — 30.2% below league average.

Career SLG .201 vs. league average .375 across their career seasons — 46.4% below league average.

Career OPS .432 vs. league average .705 across their career seasons — 38.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1943 BEG NN2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1944 BEG NN2 3 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 — — — — 0.0
1945 BEG NN2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1946 BEG NN2 25 40 5 8 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 .200 — — — — 0.0
1947 BEG NN2 23 47 3 13 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 .277 — — — — -112.0
1948 BEG NN2 19 43 3 9 2 0 0 5 1 4 0 .209 — — — — 0.0
1952 BRO NL 57 36 1 5 0 0 0 5 0 0 15 .139 — — — — 0.0
1953 BRO NL 34 17 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 .235 — — — — 0.0
1954 BRO NL 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1955 BRO NL 6 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .333 — — — — 0.0
1955 CIN NL 32 30 3 3 0 0 0 2 0 1 10 .100 — — — — 0.0
1956 CIN NL 34 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 .000 — — — — 0.0
1957 WS1 AL 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 13 seasons 248 234 16 44 3 0 0 17 1 10 38 .188 — — — — -112

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1953 WS BRO 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1952 WS BRO 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 .000
1948 NLC BEG 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 3 5 4 0 31.3 24 11 12 15 3.16

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1953 WS BRO 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 1 1 0 2 9.00
1952 WS BRO 1 2 3 3 0 21.3 15 6 8 9 2.53
1948 NLC BEG 0 1 1 1 0 9.0 8 4 4 4 4.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (548 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1652151838112.177
Away1137321107.151

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home158654.06361682003412.31
Away112319.23091221001233.43

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1957-09-11 MINDET — 0.2333001
1957-09-02 MINBOS — 1.0311000
1957-08-23 MINDET — 2.0643011
1957-08-20 MINCHW — 3.0200100
1957-08-13 MINBAL L 2.0433012
1957-08-10 MINBOS — 3.0300000
1957-08-06 MINNYY — 1.0100000
1956-09-18 CINPHI — 3.0522220
1956-09-16 CINBRO — 2.1200000
1956-09-08 CINSTL — 1.2000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
OF 1 1 1 0 0 0
P 241 55 38 157 19 10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1943 BEG P 2 1 0 0 0 0
1944 BEG P 3 1 0 4 0 0
1945 BEG P 1 1 0 2 0 0
1946 BEG P 24 16 10 36 6 1
1947 BEG P 22 13 4 36 4 4
1948 BEG 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1948 BEG OF 1 1 1 0 0 0
1948 BEG P 17 12 5 21 1 0
1952 BRO P 56 0 7 18 4 2
1953 BRO P 34 0 3 11 1 0
1954 BRO P 5 0 0 1 0 0
1955 BRO P 6 0 0 1 0 0
1955 CIN P 32 11 3 17 2 1
1956 CIN P 32 0 5 7 1 2
1957 WS1 P 7 0 1 3 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 241
First Base 1
Right Field 1

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1952 Rookie of the Year
1952 TSN Rookie of the Year

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1952 Most Valuable Player NL 3rd 208.0 336 8
1952 Rookie of the Year NL 1st 19.0 24 19

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Joe Black (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Don Lee
    40-44, 3.61 ERA
  2. 96
    Tom Gorman
    36-36, 3.77 ERA
  3. 95
    Steve Ontiveros
    34-31, 3.67 ERA
  4. 94
    Tom Timmermann
    35-35, 3.78 ERA
  5. 94
    Don Nottebart
    36-51, 3.65 ERA
  6. 88
    Mark Williamson
    46-35, 3.86 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Black

What years did Joe Black play?
Joe Black played in Major League Baseball from 1952 to 1957.
Was Joe Black a pitcher?
Yes. Joe Black pitched in the major leagues, recording 49 wins and 454 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Joe Black hit?
Joe Black hit 0 career home runs with 44 hits.