Bud Black (blackbu01)

William Carroll Black

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 197 lb.
• High School University City (MO) High School
• Debut September 13, 1952
• Final Game May 12, 1956
• Born July 9, 1932 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died October 2, 2005 in St. Louis, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bud Black had three cups of coffee as a pitcher with the Detroit Tigers in the 1950s.

Originally signed by his hometown St. Louis Browns, he was sent to Detroit as part of an eight-player trade that included Jim Delsing, Ned Garver and Vic Wertz on August 24, 1952. He made his big league debut for the Tigers a couple of weeks later. Bud went into the army after the 1952 season, and while in the army played on the Fort Leonard Wood Hilltoppers, the winners of the 1953 NBC World Series. Whitey Herzog and Jerry Lumpe were teammates and fellow soldiers. The next year, he, Herzog and Lumpe again played in the NBC World Series (this time with a different team), but were disqualified during the series because they had been participating simultaneously in the All-Army baseball tournament in Colorado. Bud's cup of coffee in 1955 was quite successful, as he posted a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings. In 1956 at the age of 23, his ERA of 3.60 was also better than the Tigers' ERA of 4.06, but he did not stick.