Irv Noren
Irv Noren was born in Jamestown in 1924 and his family operated a bakery on Newland Avenue. When Noren was 11 he moved to California and that is where he broke into professional baseball.
In 1946 with Santa Barbera of the California League, Noren batted .363 with a league-leading 518 at bats, 188 hits, 129 RBI and 27 assists. He advanced to Fort Worth of the Texas League and played outfield and first base while batting .271. The following season he was named the league's Most Valuable Player after batting .323 with 10 home runs and 71 RBI.
The next step was a season with Hollywood in the Pacific Coast League for the year 1949 where he batted .330 with 29 home runs and 130 RBI. He also led the league in outfield putouts and assists and was named the PCL’s MVP.
Noren also played in the National Basketball League, a predecessor of the NBA, in 1946-7 for the Chicago American Gears.
He played outfield in the Major Leagues from 1950-1960 starting with the Washington Senators. He also played for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He appeared in three World Series (1952, 1953, and 1955) while a Yankee and was on the American League All-Star team in 1954 with fellow CSHoF inductee Nellie Fox. He batted .300 in the 1952 World Series.
After his big league career, Noren was a scout for the Washington Senators in 1964, then was out of baseball from 1965 to 1969. He managed the Niagara Falls Pirates in 1970, then turned to coaching. He was on the Oakland A's staff from 1971 to 1974 and the Chicago Cubs staff in 1975.
Irv Noren was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
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Trophies on display at the Hall of Fame.
