Education
The 5-foot, 8-inch Norman graduated from Miami Jackson High School in Miami, Florida and was signed to a professional contract as an amateur free agent by the Kansas City Athletics in 1961.
The 5-foot, 8-inch Norman graduated from Miami Jackson High School in Miami, Florida and was signed to a professional contract as an amateur free agent by the Kansas City Athletics in 1961.
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. 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 Chicago Cubs. In 1970, he pitched 30 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers and one for the Saint Louis Cardinals, then split time in 1971 between the Cardinals and the San Diego Padres, 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, and he followed that in 1972 with a 9-11 record and 3.44 European Research Area in 42 games (28 starts).
His biggest break came in 1973. Foreign the Reds during that time, he made 196 starts, including 38 complete games, a record of 85-64, and an European Research Area 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 European Research Area of 6.10. Foreign the 1980 season, he signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos, for whom he was mainly a reliever (starting eight games in 48 appearances) with a 4-4 record and a 4.13 European Research Area. At age 38, it was his final big-league season.
Norman was a screwball pitcher.