PACIFIC ALUMNUS RECEIVES NATIONAL BASEBALL AWARD FOR GLOBAL IMPACT
University of the Pacific alumnus and long-time baseball coach John Noce '53 has received the 2023 Lefty Gomez Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association, presented annually to someone who has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally.
Noce led the College of San Mateo baseball program for 31 years (1962-1992), capturing 13 conference titles and finishing runner-up three times in the California community college playoffs. At the time of his retirement, he was the winningest coach in California community college baseball history.
"John had a huge impact on the game," said Pat Doyle, long-time head baseball coach at Delta College, who nominated him for the award. "I'm not sure California junior college baseball would be as good as it is now without John Noce."
Noce joins other legends of the game who have received the award, including former Major League Baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth and legendary coaches Ron Fraser (Miami), Ron Polk (Mississippi State), Bob Bennett (Fresno State) and Rod Dedeaux (University of Southern California).
Noce got his "coaching bug" while in high school in Richmond, California. With few coaches available during World War II, the community's youth baseball games were often run by captains. As a 14- and 15-year-old, Noce became one of those captains and started "coaching" his team...