Black helped the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro Leagues win two championships in seven years. He and Jackie Robinson pushed for a pension plan for Negro League players and instrumental in the inclusion of players who played before 1944. 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 at 28, five years after teammate Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. He roomed with Robinson while with Brooklyn. Black was 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 eight innings short of winning the ERA title. Strapped for pitching, Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen brought Black out of the bullpen and started him three times in seven days in the 1952 World Series against the New York Yankees. He won the opener with a six-hitter over Allie Reynolds, 4–2, then lost the fourth game, 2–0, and the seventh, 4–2
Black's decline
The spring after the World Series, Dressen urged Black to add some pitches to his strong slowball, which was his favorite pitch. In six seasons, he compiled a 30–12 record, half of his wins coming in his rookie season.
After baseball
After his career ended, Black was a scout for the Senators. He taught health and physical education at Hubbard Junior High School in Plainfield, New Jersey, and later 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. In 1991, Black appeared as a fictional character 'Joe 'Playday' Sims', in TV's Cosby Show, in the 7th Season episode, "There's Still No Joy in Mudville", which originally aired April 4, 1991. He 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. 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 NobodyBetter Than You. Black died of prostate cancer at age 78. He was interred in the Hillside Cemetery of Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
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. There is a plaque honoring him at Chase Field alongside the Diamondbacks' championships and retired numbers. Beginning in 2010, the Washington Nationals have presented 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. Joe Black Park is in Plainfield NJ in its west end.
