A One-Year Wonder, but a Dodger to the End

Joe Black, a one-year sensation for the Dodgers who in 1952 became the first black pitcher to win a World Series game, died Friday of prostate cancer. He was 78.

Black, whose health had deteriorated the last few months, died at the Life Care Center of Scottsdale, Ariz.

“Joe and I played together and we were very close friends,” said Tom Lasorda, Dodger senior vice president. “He was a tremendous guy and he loved the Dodgers.

“He maintained that Dodger attitude until the day he was called upon to leave. He was always a Dodger.”

Black joined the Dodgers in ‘52, five years after Jackie Robinson, his Dodger teammate and roommate, had broken baseball’s color barrier. A former pitcher in the Negro leagues, Black arrived in Brooklyn at 28 after a season in the minor leagues.

The right-hander excelled out of the bullpen for Manager Chuck Dressen, finishing 15-4 with 15 saves and being selected the National League rookie of the year for the pennant winners.

“He was very much of a power pitcher, much the same as I was,” said Dodger director of community relations Don Newcombe, who played against Black during their childhood in New Jersey and joined him on the Brooklyn roster.

“We threw our fastball and our curveball, told them here it comes and hit it. He always gave his best and he was a hard worker.”

Black’s 2.15 earned-run average would have given him the ERA title in ‘52, but he finished eight innings short of qualifying.

“He was a guy who came to spring training and he wasn’t on the roster, so that made it all a surprise,” Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully said. “The first time I ever saw him, and I remember distinctly, I looked and I thought, ‘My God, he’s an ebony statue.’ He had a marvelous body.... It was just perfect.

“He was a very pleasant guy. It was no problem for him to say hello, and he had a lovely smile. Then, my God, as the year went on, Charlie Dressen kept relying on him. He won 15, rookie of the year, and the next thing you know, Charlie starts him in the World Series.”

Black won the opener in the ’52 Series against the New York Yankees, tossing a six-hitter to beat Allie Reynolds, 4-2. He lost the fourth game, 2-0, and the seventh, 4-2

Black’s career turned after his stirring rookie season as he lost command of his fastball and curveball while trying to add other pitches.

After three more seasons with the Dodgers, Black drifted to Cincinnati and Washington and was out of baseball by 1958. He was 30-12 in six seasons--half of his wins coming in his rookie season.

After his career ended, Black became an executive with Greyhound in Phoenix. 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.

Black was a board director of the Baseball Assistance Team and worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks in community relations after they joined the National League in 1998.

A native of Plainfield, N.J., Black graduated from Morgan State in 1950 and later received an honorary doctorate from Shaw University.

He is survived by his son Joseph “Chico” Black and a daughter, Martha.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete, but his son said Black would be cremated, with a memorial service in New Jersey.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.