Norm Bass

American baseball player

Norman Delaney Bass, Jr. (born January 21, 1939) is a former American college and professional football player and baseball player. He was a pitcher for the Kansas City Athletics from 1961 to 1963. A safety in football, he played college football at the University of the Pacific, and professionally in the American Football League for the Denver Broncos in 1964. Bass became an international table tennis player. His 2–sport athlete status came about because arthritis forced him to retire from baseball. He is the brother of NFL player Dick Bass.

Bass pitched in 65 games (34 starts) for the Kansas City Athletics, finishing with a 13–17 record and a 5.32 career ERA in his Major League career. In his rookie year with the Athletics he had 11 wins and 11 losses. Bass signed with the Athletics before the 1958 season and made his debut with the Pocatello A's. He worked his way to the major leagues, making his debut at age 22. As a hitter, he hit his lone major league home run in 1961. Bass pitched in one minor league game in 1965, a complete game victory, but his baseball career ended after that performance.

Bass played safety for the Denver Broncos in 1964 after arthritis cut short his 1964 baseball season. The Broncos were an American Football League team that went 2–11–1 that season, with Bass playing Defensive Back and wearing uniform number 46. From 1960 to 1969, his brother, Dick Bass, was a running back for the Los Angeles Rams.

Bass was stricken with meningitis at age 10 and had to be quarantined for a time after the illness almost took his life. The illness left him blind and deaf for three months. Bass followed his older brother Dick Bass in starring at Vallejo High School and attending the University of Pacific, where he was a multi–sport athlete. Bass was elected to the Table Tennis Hall of Fame in 2018.