Per my research, and unsurprising giving America's racist history, even when black players were allowed into the major leagues, they were disproportionately shifted to be position players. Apparently, racist attitudes extended to believing black pitchers were unable to handle the position. However, this mentality was quickly proven to be folly when black pitchers were given a chance. Mudcat Grant, the first black pitcher to win 20 games in a season in the AL, coined the phrase "black aces." At this moment, there are 15 Black Aces (with David Price earning membership with his 2012 Cy Young season).
To become a Black Ace, an African American pitcher has to win 20 games in one season. Unfortunately, this eliminates latin pitchers such as Luis Tiant and Pedro Martinez, but it's a group that will hopefully gain more membership despite the African American player pool continuing to shrink and starting pitchers gaining less and less and less wins every year. But there's hope, as we see players like Marcus Stroman put together 33 start seasons with ERAs hovering at or below 3.00.... it's only a matter of time before another star earns the (super cool) title of BLACK ACE!
There are very, very few African American starting pitchers in the big leagues today and Marcus Stroman's sensational 2017 season (where he only accumulated 13 wins) shows how hard it is for a pitcher to join the ranks of the Black Aces!
And now -- a MLB Showdown walkthrough of every starting pitcher to earn the title of Black Ace!
