Fredie Hubert Norman (born August 20, 1942) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

from through , most notably as a member of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

dynasty that won four division titles, two National League pennants and two

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

championships between 1973 and 1977. He also played for the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. Norman was one of the Reds' most durable and reliable pitchers during the mid-1970s when the team became known as the

Big Red Machine The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division titl ...

for their dominance of the National League. He posted double-digit victory totals in each of his seasons with the Reds and was the team leader in strikeouts in 1975. In 2018, Norman was inducted into the

Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum is an entity established by Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds franchise that pays homage to the team's past through displays, photographs and multimedia. It was instituted in 1958 to recognize the ...

Baseball career

Norman was born in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and his family moved to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

shortly after his birth. The 5-foot, 8-inch Norman graduated from

Miami Jackson High School Miami Jackson Senior High School, also known as Andrew Jackson High School or Jackson High School, is a high school located at 1751 NW 36th Street in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Its athletic team name is the Gene ...

and was signed to a professional contract as an amateur free agent by the

in 1961. Norman was a

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known a ...

pitcher. He was called up to the majors at age 20 on September 4, 1962 and made his major league debut on September 21, 1962 for the Athletics in a 6–1 home loss to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. Entering the game in the top of the eighth inning in relief of

Diego Seguí Diego Pablo Seguí González (born August 17, 1937) is a Cuban former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Washington Senators, Seattle Pilots ...

, he induced

Norm Cash Norman Dalton Cash (November 10, 1933 – October 11, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. A power hitter, his 377 career home runs were the fourth most by an America ...

to fly out and pitched two complete innings, giving up one run. However, he spent nearly all of the decade in the minors, pitching only 15 big-league games in parts of five seasons — in 1962 and 1963 for the Athletics and in 1964, 1966 and 1967 for the

. In 1970, he pitched 30 games for the

and one for the

, then split time in 1971 between the Cardinals and the

, to whom he was traded. At age 28 he finally saw significant playing time, pitching 20 games (starting 18) with a 3–12 record but a fine 3.32

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, and he followed that in 1972 with a 9–11 record and 3.44 ERA in 42 games (28 starts). His biggest break came in 1973. After starting the season for the Padres 1–7 with a 4.26 ERA, on June 12 he was traded to the defending

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

champion Cincinnati Reds, for whom he then pitched seven seasons (mid-1973–1979), was a consistently effective starter and won two World Series rings. For the Reds during that time, he made 196 starts, including 38 complete games, a record of 85–64, and an ERA every season between 3.09 and 3.73. In three World Series games (two in 1975, one in 1976), he pitched 10.1 innings with a record of 0-1 and an ERA of 6.10. For the 1980 season, he signed as a free agent with the

, for whom he was mainly a reliever (starting eight games in 48 appearances) with a 4–4 record and a 4.13 ERA. At age 38, it was his final big-league season. In 2018, he was named to the

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Fred Living people 1942 births Albuquerque Dodgers players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona Instructional League Cubs players Baseball players from San Antonio Binghamton Triplets players Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Fort Worth Cats players Kansas City Athletics players Lewiston Broncs players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Expos players Salt Lake City Bees players San Diego Padres players Screwball pitchers Shreveport Sports players Spokane Indians players Baseball players from Miami St. Louis Cardinals players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Wenatchee Chiefs players