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.

What was Joe Black's career batting average?

Joe Black batted .188 over his career, with 44 hits in 234 at bats.

How many RBI did Joe Black have?

Joe Black drove in 17 runs in his career.

What was Joe Black's career ERA?

Joe Black finished with a 3.72 career ERA, going 49-36 with 454 strikeouts.

Joe Black

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

Joe Black was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1952 to 1957 for 4 teams, including the Baltimore Elite Giants, a span of 6 seasons. Across 241 career appearances, he went 49-36 with a 3.72 ERA, 454 strikeouts, and 30 saves. He also batted .188 with 0 home runs. Joe Black was a 2-time All-Star and a Rookie of the Year. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 8131.0.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

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

Joe Black — 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

Joe Black — 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

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

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Joe Black — 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

Joe Black — 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.

Joe Black Stats, Bio & Career Records
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	12.2	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	113.1	82	25	36	85	1.99	4.10 (+52%)	4372.2
1952	BRO	NL	15	4	56	2	1	0	15	142.1	102	34	41	85	2.15	3.70 (+42%)	2931.3
1953	BRO	NL	6	3	34	3	0	0	5	72.2	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	15.1	15	5	5	9	2.93	4.00 (+27%)	376.2
1955	CIN	NL	5	2	32	11	1	0	3	102.1	106	48	25	54	4.22	4.00 (-6%)	788.2
1956	CIN	NL	3	2	32	0	0	0	2	61.2	61	31	25	27	4.52	3.96 (-14%)	-1640.8
1957	WS1	AL	0	1	7	0	0	0	0	12.2	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

Joe Black — 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.

Joe Black Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	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	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1944	BEG	NN2	3	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1945	BEG	NN2	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1946	BEG	NN2	25	40	5	8	1	2	0	3	0	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1947	BEG	NN2	23	47	3	13	0	1	0	2	0	.277	—	—	—	—	-112.0
1948	BEG	NN2	19	43	3	9	2	5	1	4	0	.209	—	—	—	—	0.0
1952	BRO	NL	57	36	1	5	0	5	0	0	15	.139	—	—	—	—	0.0
1953	BRO	NL	34	17	1	4	0	1	0	0	5	.235	—	—	—	—	0.0
1954	BRO	NL	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1955	BRO	NL	6	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
1955	CIN	NL	32	30	3	3	0	2	0	1	10	.100	—	—	—	—	0.0
1956	CIN	NL	34	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1957	WS1	AL	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			248	234	16	44	3	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

Joe Black — 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

Joe Black — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	BB	SO	AVG
1953	WS	BRO	1	0	0	0	.000
1952	WS	BRO	3	6	1	6	.000
1948	NLC	BEG	1	4	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Joe Black — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	3	5	4	0	31.1	24	11	12	15	3.16

Playoff Pitching by Year

Joe Black — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1953	WS	BRO	0	0	1	0	1.0	1	1	0	2	9.00
1952	WS	BRO	1	2	3	3	21.1	15	6	8	9	2.53
1948	NLC	BEG	0	1	1	1	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

Joe Black — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	165	215	18	38	1	12	.177
Away	113	73	2	11	0	7	.151

Pitching — Home / Away

Joe Black — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	158	654.0	636	168	200	341	2.31
Away	112	319.2	309	122	100	123	3.43

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Joe Black — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1957-09-11	MIN	DET	—	0.2	3	3	3	0	0	1
1957-09-02	MIN	BOS	—	1.0	3	1	1	0	0	0
1957-08-23	MIN	DET	—	2.0	6	4	3	0	1	1
1957-08-20	MIN	CHW	—	3.0	2	0	0	1	0	0
1957-08-13	MIN	BAL	L	2.0	4	3	3	0	1	2
1957-08-10	MIN	BOS	—	3.0	3	0	0	0	0	0
1957-08-06	MIN	NYY	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1956-09-18	CIN	PHI	—	3.0	5	2	2	2	2	0
1956-09-16	CIN	BRO	—	2.1	2	0	0	0	0	0
1956-09-08	CIN	STL	—	1.2	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Joe Black — 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

Joe Black — 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.

Joe Black Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	241
First Base	1
Right Field	1

Awards & Honors

Joe Black — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1952	Rookie of the Year
1952	TSN Rookie of the Year

Award Voting History

Joe Black — 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.

Joe Black: the record in brief

Joe Black's season table begins in 1943 with Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB now counts as major league; the bio gives the date of the MLB debut as May 1, 1952, and the final game as September 11, 1957. The season rows list, in order, the Baltimore Elite Giants (1943 through 1948), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1952 through 1955), the Cincinnati Redlegs (1955 through 1956), and the Washington Senators (1957). The bio lists Black as a pitcher who both batted and threw right-handed. Height and weight on file: 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds. Black was born on February 8, 1924, in Plainfield, NJ, USA. Black died on May 17, 2002, in Scottsdale, AZ, USA. The given name on file is Joseph Black.

The pitching table credits Black with a 49-36 record and a 3.72 ERA in 241 games. Black had 454 strikeouts, 29 complete games, and 30 saves. Black's 3.72 ERA was close to the 3.82 league figure for those seasons. The best win total was 15, in 1952.

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.
What was Joe Black's career batting average?: Joe Black batted .188 over his career, with 44 hits in 234 at bats.
How many RBI did Joe Black have?: Joe Black drove in 17 runs in his career.
What was Joe Black's career ERA?: Joe Black finished with a 3.72 career ERA, going 49-36 with 454 strikeouts.