Joseph W. Bostic; Pioneer Black Announcer

Joseph W. Bostic, 79, a newsman and sports announcer who tried to break baseball’s color barrier in the 1940s. In 1932, Bostic became the first black radio announcer at station WCBM in Baltimore. He also was the first black boxing announcer at Madison Square Garden and the first black member of the boxing writers and track writers associations. In 1945, Bostic took two black players to the Brooklyn Dodgers spring training camp and successfully insisted they be given a tryout. This occurred two years before the Dodgers brought up the major leagues’ first black player, Jackie Robinson. Sunday in New York.