Norm Siebern Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

NORM SIEBERN

Born: July 26, 1933 in St. Louis, Missouri
Died: October 30, 2015 in Naples, Florida

Player Career

Bat: Left Throw: Right Height: 6' 2" Weight: 200
First Game: June 15, 1956 ; Final Game: July 30, 1968

Awards and Achievements

Named Minor League Player of the Year by The Sporting News (1957)
Named first baseman on The Sporting News AL All-Star Team (1962)
Won AL Gold Glove as left fielder (1958)

Biography | show more show less

Norm Siebern
This article was written by Doug Skipper and is presented in part, courtesy of the Society for American Baseball Research
A strong, quiet and athletic 6-foot-2 205-pounder who wore glasses, batted from the left side and threw right-handed, Siebern split time between first base and the outfield for six major league teams. Originally a Yankee, he played in two World Series for New York, and was part of the package the Bronx Bombers sent to Kansas City for Roger Maris. He was an All Star first baseman for the Athletics and the Baltimore Orioles, and later played with California and San Francisco before he closed out his career in Boston in 1967 and 1968.

Norman Leroy Siebern was born on July 26, 1933, in Wellston, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. One of two sons of Milton, who later served as a scorekeeper for the Kansas City Athletics, and Iva Siebern, he was a baseball and basketball standout at Wellston High, just outside St. Louis, and managing editor of the school newspaper. Lou Maguolo, Midwestern scout for the Yankees, spotted Siebern when the young slugger was 15, and signed him as soon as he graduated from high school in 1951. That summer, Siebern started his professional baseball career at the age of 17 at McAlester in the Class D Sooner State League. He appeared in 50 games, batted .331, and, though he homered just three times, he lashed 18 doubles and three triples and drove in 31 runs.

He moved up to Joplin, Missouri, in the Class C Western Association in 1952, where he batted .324 and drilled 52 extra base hits, including 13 home runs, and drove in 95 runs in 137 games. He led the league with 33 doubles and 115 runs scored. That effort earned Siebern a promotion to Birmingham of the Double-A Southern Association in 1953, where he hit .281 with 21 homers and 97 runs batted in. But he wasn't busy just during the summer. Siebern and fellow Yankee farmhand Jerry Lumpe played basketball at Southwest Missouri State Teachers College (later Southwest Missouri State University and now Missouri State University) and helped the Bears win the 1952 and 1953 NAIA National Championship Tournaments. Southwest Missouri State posted a 10-0 record in the national tourney over the two seasons, including wins over Indiana State, Murray State, and Gonzaga, though both Siebern and Lumpe headed to spring training prior to the title games. The NAIA rule allowing athletes to play minor league baseball and college basketball was rescinded after the 1953 season, and Siebern set aside his pursuit of a degree in journalism.

Film Credits

1967 1967 World Series (in person), 1964 1964 MLB All-Star Game (in person), 1958 1958 World Series (in person), 1956 1956 World Series (in person)