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Dodgers Rookie of the Year winners, all 18 of them

By Bobby Mueller

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 29: Cody Bellinger
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 29: Cody Bellinger /
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BALTIMORE, MD – JUNE 24: Rawlings gloves on the field before a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 24, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – JUNE 24: Rawlings gloves on the field before a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 24, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Dodgers Rookie of the Year #18

  • RP Joe Black, 1952
  • 6 seasons with three teams (4 seasons with Dodgers)
  • 30-12, 414 IP, 3.91 ERA
  • 2.6 fWAR, 5.0 bWAR

Joe Black was 28 years old during his first major league season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952. He was an instant sensation, going 15-4 with a 2.15 ERA while pitching mostly in relief. He also had 15 saves to go along with his 15 wins.

In the World Series against the Yankees that fall, Black was pulled out of the bullpen to start three games. He had a very good 2.53 ERA but lost two of his three starts and the Dodgers lost the series in seven games.

Black was so good that year that he not only won the Rookie of the Year Award, he also finished third in the voting for NL MVP, behind Hank Sauer and Robin Roberts. He was a very deserving Rookie of the Year winner, but there were more valuable players who finished behind him in MVP voting, including Stan Musial and teammate Jackie Robinson.

Before playing with the Dodgers, Black spent seven seasons in the Negro Leagues, where he won two championships with the Baltimore Elite Giants. He also worked with Jackie Robinson to create a pension plan for Negro League players. When he joined the Dodgers five years after Robinson broke the modern color barrier, they became roommates.

His rookie season would end up being Black’s best year in the major leagues. After putting up a 2.15 ERA that season, he would have a 4.84 ERA over the rest of his career as he moved from the Dodgers to the Cincinnati Redlegs (as they were called during the “red scare”) and Washington Senators.

After his playing career ended, Black was a scout for a couple years with the senators, taught PE at Hubbard Junior High School in New Jersey, and was an executive with Greyhound. He appeared in one episode of The Cosby Show and spent many years working in baseball. According to this article from 2015, Black had a hand in the Marlins’ World Series victory over the Cleveland Indians in 1997.

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