Certainly the greatest talent to come out of Pasadena Junior College in the decade of the 1940s was Irv Noren. At PJC, he was the State Player of the Year in leading the 1942-1943 basketball team to a conference title. The 2-sport star played professionally in two major sports leagues. He played 11 years in Major League Baseball for six teams and was in All-Star in 1954. He played on three New York Yankees' World Series champion teams in 1952, 1953 and 1956, and he was a roommate of Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. Prior to making to the big leagues, he was 1949 MVP of the Pacific Coast League playing for the Hollywood Stars. Before making it big in baseball, Noren played with the great George Mikan on the Chicago American Gears champion team in the National Basketball League. In 1946-47, Noren ironically also was a teammate of a fellow PJC graduate--Jackie Robinson--on a pro basketball team called the Los Angeles Red Devils. Noren later was a coach on three consecutive Oakland A's World Series champion teams from 1972-1974.
Certainly the greatest talent to come out of Pasadena Junior College in the decade of the 1940s was Irv Noren. At PJC, he was the State Player of the Year in leading the 1942-1943 basketball team to a conference title. The 2-sport star played professionally in two major sports leagues. He played 11 years in Major League Baseball for six teams and was in All-Star in 1954. He played on three New York Yankees' World Series champion teams in 1952, 1953 and 1956, and he was a roommate of Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. Prior to making to the big leagues, he was 1949 MVP of the Pacific Coast League playing for the Hollywood Stars. Before making it big in baseball, Noren played with the great George Mikan on the Chicago American Gears champion team in the National Basketball League. In 1946-47, Noren ironically also was a teammate of a fellow PJC graduate--Jackie Robinson--on a pro basketball team called the Los Angeles Red Devils. Noren later was a coach on three consecutive Oakland A's World Series champion teams from 1972-1974.