Rayner Noble Explained

Rayner Noble
Birth Date:7 August 1961
Birth Place:Crowell, Texas, U.S.
Player Years1:1980–1983
Player Team1:Houston[1]
Player Years2:1983–1984
Player Team2:Daytona Beach Astros
Player Years3:1985–1986
Player Team3:Columbus Astros
Player Years4:1986–1987
Player Team4:Tucson Toros
Player Positions:Pitcher
Coach Years1:1987–1990
Coach Team1:Houston (assistant)
Coach Years2:1991–1994
Coach Team2:Rice (assistant)[2]
Coach Years3:1995–2010
Coach Team3:Houston[3]
Championships:
Awards:
  • 2x C-USA Coach of the Year (1999, 2000)
  • ABCA South Central Region Coach of the Year (2002)

James Rayner Noble (born August 7, 1961) is an American former baseball coach and player. He last served as head coach at the University of Houston. In his 16 years coaching Houston, he is the winningest coach in program history. Noble's career coaching record is 551–420 (.567).

A native of Houston, Texas, Noble attended Spring Woods High School and holds both a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Houston.

From 1983 to 1987, Noble played Minor League Baseball in the Houston Astros organization.[5]

Noble wore one of the highest numbers in college baseball (#85, as opposed to his playing #9), which he said he wore to remind himself of becoming a Christian in 1985.[6]

He became the fifth head coach in the university's history on May 26, 1994.[7] [8]

In 1998 he ran two baseball summer camp training sessions. The first was for players aged 7 to 12, the second for ages 10 to high schoolers expecting to graduate in 1999. The camps ran for one week each in July.[9]

After suffering the first consecutive losing seasons of his career, UH parted ways with Noble on June 4, 2010.[10]

He was hired on as coach at Second Baptist in 2019, replacing another former Astros player, Lance Berkman.[11]

Accolades

Noble was voted the team MVP when playing for the Houston Cougars in 1983.[12] He was also named the Conference Player of the Year that year.[13]

Noble received the Coach of the Year award in 1999 from Conference USA.[14] He received the honor again in 2000.[15]

In 2002, Noble was named ABCA South Central Region Coach of the Year.[16]

On September 17, 2021, Noble was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor.[17]

External links

Notes and References

  1. 2014 . McClain . Allison . Conrad . Jeff . McGrory . Michael . Fazendin . Derrick . Bassity . David . Individual Records . Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac . 53 . issuu.
  2. News: 1991-05-22 . Scoreboard . Messenger-Inquirer . 20 . 2024-02-12 . subscription . Newspapers.com.
  3. News: 1994-06-16 . Prather names assistant and Rice . subscription . 2024-02-12 . 24 . Bryan-College Station Eagle . Newspapers.com.
  4. 2008 . Houston Cougars Baseball History . 2024-02-12 . University of Houston Baseball Records 2008 . 115.
  5. Web site: Rayner Noble. Baseball-Reference.com. 23 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20130501113738/http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=noble-002jam. live. 2013-05-01.
  6. 2004-05-26 . Why Noble Wears #85 . 2004 Houston Cougars Baseball Newsletter . 11 . Texas Tech.
  7. 2008 . Houston Cougars Baseball History . 2024-02-12 . University of Houston Baseball Records 2008 . 107.
  8. News: Transactions . 1994-05-27 . The Winchester Sun . 2024-02-12 . subscription . . 13.
  9. News: 1998-07-04 . Area Briefs . subscription . 12 . Clute, Texas: The Facts . 2024-02-12 . Newspapers.com.
  10. Web site: Noble No Longer UH Baseball Coach . Berman, Mark . 2010-06-04 . . 2010-06-04.
  11. News: Vedia . Arianna . 2019-06-06 . Former UH baseball coach Rayner Noble to take over at Second Baptist . 2024-02-12 . . Hearst Newspapers, LLC.
  12. 2014 . McClain . Allison . Conrad . Jeff . McGrory . Michael . Fazendin . Derrick . Bassity . David . Team Most Valuable Player . Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac . 48 . issuu.
  13. 2008 . Houston Cougars Baseball History . 2024-02-12 . University of Houston Baseball Records 2008 . 116.
  14. News: 1999-05-19 . C-USA Awards . . 2024-02-12.
  15. News: 2000-05-17 . Scorecard . . 2024-02-12 . subscription . . 12.
  16. 2014 . McClain . Allison . Conrad . Jeff . McGrory . Michael . Fazendin . Derrick . Bassity . David . ABCA South Central Regional Coach of the Year . Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac . 44 . issuu.
  17. News: Koch . Joshua . 2021-09-21 . Second Baptist Baseball Coach Noble Inducted into University of Houston Athletics Hall of Honor . 2024-02-12 . Vype Magazine.