He was an outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1950 through 1960 for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Later in his baseball career, Noren was a minor league manager and the third-base coach of the 1972–73 World Series champion Oakland Athletics.

But the Dodgers had no room for Noren in their outfield in Brooklyn and sold his contract to the American League Washington Senators at the close of the 1949 campaign.

He batted .295, established career highs in hits (160), home runs (14) and RBI (98), and finished 15th in the league's MVP race.

For the next 41⁄2 seasons, Noren would be a valuable platoon outfielder for Casey Stengel's Yankees, appearing in three World Series (1952; 1953; 1955), all against his original organization, Brooklyn.

He started four games as the Yankees' centerfielder in the 1955 World Series, filling in, along with right-handed-swinging Bob Cerv, for an injured Mickey Mantle.

In addition to his baseball career, Noren played briefly with the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League in the 1946–47 season.

From 1971 through 1973, Noren served on the coaching staff of Oakland A's manager Dick Williams, a fellow Pasadena High School alumnus and former minor league teammate.