There always seems to be two sides to every baseball story.
Such was the case when the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Braves 8-2 on Sept. 21, 1952.
On the good, there was Brooklyn pitcher Joe Black. The bad, it was the Braves and their future.
Although nothing was official, it turned out to be the last game the Braves would play in Boston just a short time after winning the National League pennant in 1948.
In a story the next day in the Boston Globe by Bob Holbrook, the Braves were staying in Boston even though the financial losses.
Holbrook wrote that owner Lou Perini wasn’t moving the team, “but I’m not going to be stubborn about this thing. I don’t intend to spend 10 years here when people don’t want to see the Braves.”
Perini eventually found a new home in Milwaukee before the next season. The Braves would find new life in Wisconsin and soon would win the World Series in 1957 before moving to Atlanta for the 1966 season.
On the other side of the story, Black pitched a three-hitter for the Dodgers as he won his 15th game of the season and would be set up to become the first African American to start a World Series game.
The 28-year old Black was in his rookie season with the Dodgers after beginning his professional career with the Baltimore Elite Giants in the 1940s as a teenager.
On this day, Black would be making his first major league start after 54 relief appearances and although at the time it wasn’t an official stat, 15 saves. He would toss his only complete game of 1952 as the Dodgers clinched a tie for the NL flag with six games to go in the season.
Roy Campanella hit a homer and had a tie-breaking single in the eighth as the Dodgers scored six times to put the game away.
The Dodgers would win the pennant two days later, but eventually lost the World Series in seven games to the New York Yankees.
Black won his first start with a complete game effort in the opener as the Dodgers won 4-2. He gave up six hits and fanned six. Unfortunately for Black and the Dodgers, he was the losing pitcher in games four and seven.
Rookie of the Year
Black’s success would have him under consideration for the NL Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year honors.
The right-hander finished the season at 15-4 with a 2.15 ERA as he led the league with 41 games finished.
With 19 votes, Black was named the Rookie of the Year. He finished ahead of New York’s Hoyt Wilhelm (three votes), Pittsburgh’s Dick Groat (one vote) and Boston’s Eddie Mathews (one vote). He joined Brooklyn teammates Jackie Robinson (1947) and Don Newcombe (1949) as the Dodgers claimed three of the first six winners of the award
Chicago Cubs veteran Hank Sauer won the MVP Award as he topped the NL with 37 homers and 121 RBI, while Philadelphia pitcher Robin Roberts was second after posting a 28-7 mark for the Phillies.
Black finished third, but did pick up eight votes for first. That number was the same as Sauer and one more than Roberts. The remaining top vote went to Black’s teammate Duke Snider, who was eighth in the balloting.
Overall in six big league seasons, Black would end his time in the majors with a 30-12 career record. He was 22-7 with Brooklyn until he was traded to Cincinnati in 1955. After the 1956 season with the Reds, Black’s final year was in 1957 with the Washington Senators.