Norm Cash Stats & Facts
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Norm Cash
Positions: Firstbase/OF
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Height: 6 Weight: 185
Born: Saturday, November 10, 1934 in Justiceburg, TX USA
Died: December 12, 1986 in Beaver Island, MI USA
Debut: June 18, 1958
Last Game: August 6, 1974
Full Name: Norman Dalton Cash
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1958
Vada Pinson
Ron Fairly
Tony Taylor
Orlando Cepeda
Norm Cash
Felipe Alou
Mudcat Grant
Frank Howard
Jerry Adair
The Norm Cash Teammate Team
C: Bill Freehan
1B: Earl Torgeson
2B: Dick McAuliffe
3B: Billy Goodman
SS: Luis Aparicio
LF: Willie Horton
CF: Mickey Stanley
RF: Al Kaline
DH: Gates Brown
SP: Early Wynn
SP: Jim Bunning
SP: Denny McLain
SP: Mickey Lolich
SP: Joe Coleman
RP: John Hiller
RP: Jon Warden
M: Mayo Smith
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Notable Events and Chronology for Norm Cash Career
While the 1968 season came to be known as “The Year of the Pitcher,” 1961 could just as easily be referred to as “The Year of the Hitter.” With the expansion Washington Senators and Los Angeles Angels joining the ranks of American League teams, baseball experienced a dilution in pitching talent that enabled the game’s top stars to compile some incredibly prolific offensive numbers. In the junior circuit alone, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle combined to hit 115 home runs for the Yankees, with the former breaking Babe Ruth’s long-standing single season home run record. Baltimore’s Jim Gentile hit 46 homers and knocked in 141 runs, in fewer than 500 official at-bats. Harmon Killebrew homered 46 times and drove in 122 runs for the Minnesota Twins. Rocky Colavito hit 45 home runs, knocked in 140 runs, and scored 129 others for the Detroit Tigers. Yet, it could be argued that the sport’s finest all-around hitter in 1961 was Colavito’s teammate in Detroit, slugging first baseman Norm Cash. The left-handed hitting Cash placed among the A.L. leaders with 41 home runs, 132 runs batted in, 119 runs scored, 124 walks, 354 total bases, and a .662 slugging percentage, while topping the circuit with a .361 batting average, a .487 on-base percentage, and 193 hits. Although Cash never again even approached most of those extraordinary figures, he remained one of the American League’s top sluggers for another decade, ending his career as the fourth leading left-handed home run hitter in league history, behind only Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Lou Gehrig.
Biography:
Born in Justiceburg, Texas on November 10, 1934, Norman Dalton Cash starred in both football and baseball while attending Sul Ross State University. Drafted by the Chicago Bears as a running back in 1955, the talented youngster chose instead to sign as an amateur free agent with the Chicago White Sox the very same year. After two seasons of minor league ball, Cash spent 1957 in the military, before returning to Chicago’s farm system in 1958. He made his major league debut with the White Sox later that year, appearing in four games in the outfield and singling twice in eight official trips to the plate. Cash assumed a part-time role for the team the following year, seeing a limited amount of action at first base, before being relegated to bench duty during the season’s second half following the acquisition of Ted Kluszewski. In just over 100 official at-bats, Cash batted .240, hit four home runs, and knocked in 16 runs.
The White Sox included Cash in an eight-player deal with the Cleveland Indians at season’s end that brought Minnie Minoso back to Chicago. However, in a move that turned out to be a steal for Detroit, Cleveland dealt Cash to the Tigers for unknown third baseman Steve Demeter shortly before the 1960 campaign got underway. Cash quickly established himself as the Tigers starting first baseman upon his arrival in the Motor City, hitting 18 home runs, driving in 63 runs, and batting .286 in his first full major league season. Cash found Tiger Stadium’s excellent hitting background very much to his liking, learning before long how to use his quick, compact swing to take full advantage of the ballpark’s short right field porch. The first baseman later became the first Detroit player to hit a ball completely out of Tiger Stadium – a feat he accomplished four times over the course of his career.
With the left-handed hitting Cash sandwiched between right-handed sluggers Al Kaline and Rocky Colavito in the Detroit batting order, the Tigers scored the most runs in baseball in 1961, compiling in the process a regular season record of 101-61. Only the remarkable year turned in by the Yankees, who won 109 games, prevented Detroit from capturing the American League pennant. In addition to leading the league in batting (.361), on-base percentage (.487), and hits (193), Cash finished sixth in home runs (41), fourth in runs batted in (132) and runs scored (119), and second in walks (124), total bases (354), and slugging percentage (.662). Cash’s .361 batting average turned out to be the highest mark posted by any player during the 1960s. His brilliant performance earned him a fourth-place finish in the league MVP voting, behind New York’s Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, and Baltimore’s Jim Gentile.
Although many observers attributed the gaudy offensive numbers posted by several of the game’s top players in 1961 to league expansion, which resulted in a dilution of pitching talent, Cash later admitted to using an illegal corked bat throughout the campaign. The slugger revealed that he drilled a hole in his bats, which he subsequently filled with a mixture of sawdust, cork, and glue. Yet, Cash also firmly believed that he received a significant amount of good fortune en route to compiling easily the greatest season of his career. Looking back on the 1961 season, Cash said, “It was a freak. Even at the time, I realized that. Everything I hit seemed to drop in, even when I didn’t make good contact. I never thought I’d do it again.”
Cash didn’t come close to repeating his exceptional performance the following year, posting a batting average of just .243. His 118-point drop in batting average still represents the largest ever by a batting champion. Nevertheless, Cash knocked in 89 runs, scored 94 others, and finished among the league leaders with 39 home runs and 104 walks, compiling in the process a very respectable .382 on-base percentage.
Cash never again batted any higher than .283, reaching the .270-mark only four more times in his 12 remaining years with the Tigers. Yet, he continued to post outstanding home run totals, surpassing 30 homers three more times, while hitting more than 20 long balls six other times. Cash also knocked in more than 90 runs two more times. He had two of his best years in 1966 and 1971, batting .279 in the first of those campaigns, while also hitting 32 homers, driving in 93 runs, and scoring 98 others. Cash finished second in the American League with 32 homers in 1971, while also placing among the league leaders with 91 runs batted in and a .531 slugging percentage. He made the All-Star Team and finished 12th in the league MVP voting both years. Although Cash performed less effectively for the Tigers during their 1968 world championship season, batting just .263 and driving in only 63 runs, he hit 25 home runs and made key contributions to Detroit’s seven-game World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Cash batted .385 during the Fall Classic, with one home run and five runs batted in.
A solid fielder as well, Cash possessed sure hands and outstanding quickness around first base. He led all A.L. players at his position in putouts, assists, and fielding percentage at various times, placing 17th on the all-time list with 1,317 assists at first base.
Yet, Stormin’ Norman, as he came to be known by the fans of Detroit, gained most of his notoriety due to his proficiency as a home run hitter. Once asked by Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich why he never hit for a high average after 1961, Cash responded to his teammate, “Jim Campbell (Detroit’s general manager) pays me to hit home runs. I can get hits if I want to…just watch tomorrow.” Lolich revealed that Cash subsequently went 3-for-4 the next day.
Known for his hard-living, candor, sense of humor, and self-deprecating nature, Cash was extremely popular with his teammates, the media, and the fans of Detroit. Longtime Tigers roommate Al Kaline said, “When you mention Norm Cash, I just smile. He was just a fun guy to be around and a great teammate. He always came ready to play.”
Cash exhibited his sense of humor on one particular occasion when he found himself about to be tagged out while trapped between first and second base. Stopping in his tracks, he formed a “T” with his hands to call time-out.
Cash displayed his ability to laugh at himself when he said of his 1,091 career strikeouts, “Pro-rated at 500 at-bats a year – that means that, for two years out of the 14 I played, I never even touched the ball.”
As for his honesty, Cash said of his exceptional 1961 campaign, “I owe my success to expansion pitching, a short right-field fence, and my hollow bats.”
Released by the Tigers in August 1974 after batting just .228 in 53 games with the club, the 39-year-old Cash announced his retirement shortly thereafter. He left the game with 377 home runs, 1,103 runs batted in, 1,046 runs scored, a .271 career batting average, and a .374 on-base percentage. In addition to leading the American League in batting in 1961, Cash finished second in the junior circuit in home runs on three separate occasions.
After retiring from baseball, Cash signed with the Detroit Caesars, a professional softball team, and played two seasons (1977-1978). He also served as a broadcaster for ABC’s baseball broadcasts in 1976, before becoming an announcer for Tigers cable broadcasts from 1981 to 1983. Cash drowned in an accident off Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan in October 1986, when he slipped while aboard a boat, fell, and struck his head. His body was discovered about 11 a.m. in 15 feet of water off Beaver Island. Cash was one month shy of his 52nd birthday at the time.
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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts
Texan Norm Cash was a free-spirited, good-time loving country boy, who hit 377 career homers and won the 1961 American League batting title. He filled the middle of the Detroit Tiger lineup for 15 seasons, hitting as many as 20 homers 11 times. The Tigers acquired him in a deal with the Indians that turned out to be one of the most lopsided in baseball history
Played For
Chicago White Sox (1958-1959)
Detroit Tigers (1960-1974)
Similar: Gil Hodges, Boog Powell, Jim Thome
Linked: Steve Demeter, Nolan Ryan
Best Season, 1961
Cash led the AL in batting at .361, which was 37 points ahead of his teammate Al Kaline, who was second. Cash also led the loop in OBP (.487), OPS, and hits (193). His accomplishment was later marred by his admission that he had used corked bats in ’61, but not all of his success can be discounted. The two expansion teams added in that season helped drive up offense all over the league.
All-Star Selections
Post-Season Appearances
1959 World Series
1968 World Series
1972 American League Championship Series
Description
Cash was famous for his after-hours activity, and his sense of humor was legendary. On July 15, 1973, as California’s Nolan Ryan was working on his second career no-hitter, Cash went to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two outs with a table leg instead of a bat. The stunt drew immediate action by the umpire, who ordered Cash to use a legal bat, but the fans loved it. After his playing career ended, Cash admitted that it was an illegal bat that helped him to his amazing 1961 season. He demonstrated how he had drilled a hole in his bats and filled it with a mixture of sawdust, cork and glue.
Factoid
Norm Cash won the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award twice: in 1965 and 1971.
Where He Played: First base (1,943), outfield (11), DH (3).
Post-Season Notes
Cash hit .385 with 10 hits in the 1968 World Series. He batted .311 with two homers and seven RBI in 16 career post-season games.
Notes
Cash enjoyed a breakout season in 1961, batting a league-best .361 with 41 homers and a .662 slugging percentage. The rowdy Texan never came within 75 points of that batting average or 130 points of the slugging mark again, but he was very successful. In 1962 he hit 39 homers, second to Harmon Killebrew in the Junior Circuit, and he finished runner-up in that category twice more. He was one of the most feared left-handed sluggers of the 1960s and early 1970s, leading southpaw swingers three times in homers… Cash drowned in a terrible boating accident off an island in northern Lake Michigan in 1986. He was 51 years old.
Transactions
Before 1955 Season: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent; December 6, 1959: Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Bubba Phillips and Johnny Romano to the Cleveland Indians for Minnie Minoso, Dick Brown, Don Ferrarese, and Jake Striker; April 12, 1960: Traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Steve Demeter; August 7, 1974: Released by the Detroit Tigers.
The White Sox let Norm Cash go to Cleveland in 1959, and not realizing what they had, the Indians traded him to the Tigers for outfielder Steve Demeter prior to the 1960 season. Both the ChiSox and the Tribe were haunted by Cash for the next 15 years, as he belted 373 homers, won a batting title, and a World Series ring in a Detroit uniform.
Factoid
Norm Cash’s 118-point drop in batting average from 1961 to 1962 (.361 to .243) is the largest by a batting champion in baseball history.
All-Star Selections
1961 AL
1966 AL
1971 AL
1972 AL
Replaced
Gail Harris, as the Tigers’ first baseman in 1960.
Replaced By
It took Detroit three years to find an everyday replacement for Cash at first base. Bill Freehan, Jack Pierce, Nate Colbert, and Dan Meyer failed to fill his shoes, before Jason Thompson emerged in 1976.
Best Strength as a Player
Patience: Cash walked 1,043 times, just 48 less times than he struck out in his career. He had a very good .374 career OBP.
Largest Weakness as a Player
Durability, hampered by his life style. He didn’t take very good care of himself, and he always missed 15-20 games a year. The only exceptions were 1961, 1966 and 1967.
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