STOCKTON, Calif. – John Noce, '53, along with Bob Thomason, '72, will receive the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award of Merit when the Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony takes place on Friday, Feb. 23 in a special reception and dinner in the Janssen-Lagorio Gymnasium on campus.
 
The award recognizes alumni who participated in athletics at Pacific and achieved distinction in their professional lives through notable examples of integrity, dedication, idealism and team spirit that Coach Stagg personified and to which Pacific is dedicated.
 
"I was surprised when I found out," Noce said. "This award means a lot to me because I remember Mr. Stagg. He was a well-thought-of person and to be connected with that name, it definitely boosts my ego."
 
Noce was the head coach at the College of San Mateo (CSM) baseball program for 31 years (1962-1991), 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.


 
Noce attended the College of San Mateo before following former teammate and Pacific Hall of Famer Bill Watkins to Pacific, playing for the Tigers in 1951 and 1952. Noce was Watkins' battery mate in junior high, high school, junior college and at Pacific and the professional level with the Stockton Ports minor league baseball team.
 
"He was a great teammate," Noce said of Watkins. "As a catcher, I always helped him with signals, and we worked really well together. We played together for three years in high school. We both went to San Mateo and Pacific together. When we finished our college careers, we both wanted to continue playing together and we both ended up playing on the Ports too. It was great to have a strong pitcher-catcher relationship for many years."
 
Behind the strong arms of Watkins and teammate Jack Sandman, the Tigers split a home series against nationally ranked Arizona in 1951, winning the second game, 5-2. Noce played for the Medicine (Alberta) Hat Mohawks in 1951, the Ports in 1952 and Ventura in 1953 before a two-year tour with the U.S. Army.
 
Noce was honored in 2003 with the Lefty Gomez Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association for contributing significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. In addition to placing more than 200 former players on Division I teams, Noce had 72 play professional baseball including eight major leaguers. He also had a 20-year career coaching in Italy and was an assistant coach in the Olympic Games for the Italian National Team in 1984, 1992 and 1996.

Noce's impact on the game of baseball became worldwide as he coached and mentored players in summer league play in the Quebec and Edmonton areas of Canada. He spent 11 summers north of the border helping players, including some of his San Mateo student-athletes.
"One of the things I'm most proud of is that I was able to place more than 80 former players into baseball jobs in Canada or Europe because of my connections," Noce said.
Three of John's five sons, Paul, John and Doug, have continued the Noce baseball coaching legacy, coaching at the college, high school or professional level.
 
"I want to thank everyone who helped me along my baseball journey," Noce said. "Baseball gave me many close friends and relationships, and I'm happy for those that I played with in my life."
 
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