James Francis Norris (born December 20, 1948) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

from 1977 to 1980 for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and Texas Rangers, playing all three outfield positions.

Amateur career

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Norris graduated from Seaford High School, and was selected by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

in the 31st round of the 1967 MLB Draft. Rather than turn professional, he opted to attend the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, where he became a three-time All- ACC

. In 1969 and 1970, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was named league MVP in 1969 with a league-leading .415 batting average.

Professional career

He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round of the 1970 MLB Draft, but did not sign. In the 1971 draft, he was taken in the 5th round by the

, and broke into the major leagues with the Indians in the 1977 season. He batted .270 with 26 stolen bases in 133 games during his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season. Prior to the 1980 season, he was dealt to the Texas Rangers in a multi-player trade. He played one year with the Rangers, and retired after spending the 1981 season with Triple-A Wichita.

Honors

In 2002, he was named to the ACC's 50th anniversary baseball team, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet

1969 Major League Scouting Bureau scouting report of Jim Norris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Jim 1948 births Living people Baseball players from Nassau County, New York Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cleveland Indians players Elmira Pioneers players Gulf Coast Indians players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball outfielders Maryland Terrapins baseball players Oklahoma City 89ers players Orleans Firebirds players San Antonio Brewers players Baseball players from Brooklyn Texas Rangers players Toledo Mud Hens players Wichita Aeros players People from Seaford, New York 20th-century American sportsmen