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Norm Cash
Norman Dalton Cash (November 10, 1933 – October 11, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. A power hitter, his 377 career home runs were the fourth most by an American League left-handed hitter when he retired, behind Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig; his 373 home runs with the Tigers is tied for second in franchise history with Miguel Cabrera, behind Al Kaline (399). He also led the AL in assists three times and fielding percentage twice; he ranked among the all-time leaders in assists (4th with 1,317) and double plays (10th with 1,347) upon his retirement, and was fifth in AL history in games at first base (1,943). He was known to fans and teammates during his playing days as "Stormin' Norman."
Cash was born in Justiceburg, Garza County, Texas, and attended (what was then) Sul Ross State Teachers College, where he was All-Lone Star Conference in football as well as playing baseball; he was drafted by the Chicago Bears as a running back in 1955, but declined to play pro football.
After signing with the Chicago White Sox in 1955, he spent 1957 in the military and made his debut with the team in 1958, seeing limited play as an outfielder and pinch hitter. He appeared in 58 games for the 1959 AL pennant-winners; the August 25 acquisition of Ted Kluszewski left him on the White Sox bench. He was hitless in four pinch-hitting appearances in the World Series. In December of that year, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in an eight-player deal that brought Minnie Miñoso back to Chicago, but Indians' general manager Frank Lane traded Cash to Detroit for Steve Demeter, who would play only four more major league games. Both Chicago and Cleveland would haunted by Cash for the next 15 years, as he won a batting title in 1961 and a World Series ring in 1968 wearing a Detroit uniform.
Cash filled the middle of the Tigers lineup for 15 seasons as part of one of the sport's top offenses.
In 1960, Cash grounded into no double plays, the first American League player with at least 400 plate appearances in a season to accomplish that since league records on this stat were started in 1940.
Cash enjoyed a breakout season in 1961, one of the most unlikely by any player in major league history. Even though the veteran had never hit higher than .286 above the B level in three previous seasons, he led the AL with a .361 average, while posting 193 hits (tied for first in the AL), 41 home runs (sixth), 132 runs batted in (fourth), 119 runs scored (fourth), 124 walks (second) for a .487 on-base percentage (first), and 354 total bases (second) for a .662 slugging average (second); but his season was overshadowed by the 61 home runs of Roger Maris, and teammate Rocky Colavito finished with more home runs and RBI. Still, his .361 average would be the highest by any major league player in the 1960s, and would not be topped by another Tiger until Magglio Ordóñez hit .363 in 2007. The Tigers finished 101–61 for their best regular-season record since 1934, and scored the most runs in baseball, though they finished second in the AL, eight games behind the New York Yankees; Cash was fourth in the MVP voting.
In future years, Cash openly admitted to using an illegal corked bat during the 1961 season among others. He drilled a hole in his bats and filled it with a mixture of sawdust, cork and glue, an art that was taught to him in the minor leagues. (Studies done many years later concluded that corked bats provided little-to-no benefit except to serve as a significant psychological boost for their users.) His 1961 statistics turned out to be career highs which he did not come close to approaching again — in later years, he never reached 100 runs or 100 RBI, and never batted above .283. His 118-point drop to a .243 average in 1962 was the largest ever by a batting champion, though he nearly matched his home run output from the previous season with 39.
Cash later said of the 1961 season: "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."
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Norm Cash
Norman Dalton Cash (November 10, 1933 – October 11, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. A power hitter, his 377 career home runs were the fourth most by an American League left-handed hitter when he retired, behind Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig; his 373 home runs with the Tigers is tied for second in franchise history with Miguel Cabrera, behind Al Kaline (399). He also led the AL in assists three times and fielding percentage twice; he ranked among the all-time leaders in assists (4th with 1,317) and double plays (10th with 1,347) upon his retirement, and was fifth in AL history in games at first base (1,943). He was known to fans and teammates during his playing days as "Stormin' Norman."
Cash was born in Justiceburg, Garza County, Texas, and attended (what was then) Sul Ross State Teachers College, where he was All-Lone Star Conference in football as well as playing baseball; he was drafted by the Chicago Bears as a running back in 1955, but declined to play pro football.
After signing with the Chicago White Sox in 1955, he spent 1957 in the military and made his debut with the team in 1958, seeing limited play as an outfielder and pinch hitter. He appeared in 58 games for the 1959 AL pennant-winners; the August 25 acquisition of Ted Kluszewski left him on the White Sox bench. He was hitless in four pinch-hitting appearances in the World Series. In December of that year, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in an eight-player deal that brought Minnie Miñoso back to Chicago, but Indians' general manager Frank Lane traded Cash to Detroit for Steve Demeter, who would play only four more major league games. Both Chicago and Cleveland would haunted by Cash for the next 15 years, as he won a batting title in 1961 and a World Series ring in 1968 wearing a Detroit uniform.
Cash filled the middle of the Tigers lineup for 15 seasons as part of one of the sport's top offenses.
In 1960, Cash grounded into no double plays, the first American League player with at least 400 plate appearances in a season to accomplish that since league records on this stat were started in 1940.
Cash enjoyed a breakout season in 1961, one of the most unlikely by any player in major league history. Even though the veteran had never hit higher than .286 above the B level in three previous seasons, he led the AL with a .361 average, while posting 193 hits (tied for first in the AL), 41 home runs (sixth), 132 runs batted in (fourth), 119 runs scored (fourth), 124 walks (second) for a .487 on-base percentage (first), and 354 total bases (second) for a .662 slugging average (second); but his season was overshadowed by the 61 home runs of Roger Maris, and teammate Rocky Colavito finished with more home runs and RBI. Still, his .361 average would be the highest by any major league player in the 1960s, and would not be topped by another Tiger until Magglio Ordóñez hit .363 in 2007. The Tigers finished 101–61 for their best regular-season record since 1934, and scored the most runs in baseball, though they finished second in the AL, eight games behind the New York Yankees; Cash was fourth in the MVP voting.
In future years, Cash openly admitted to using an illegal corked bat during the 1961 season among others. He drilled a hole in his bats and filled it with a mixture of sawdust, cork and glue, an art that was taught to him in the minor leagues. (Studies done many years later concluded that corked bats provided little-to-no benefit except to serve as a significant psychological boost for their users.) His 1961 statistics turned out to be career highs which he did not come close to approaching again — in later years, he never reached 100 runs or 100 RBI, and never batted above .283. His 118-point drop to a .243 average in 1962 was the largest ever by a batting champion, though he nearly matched his home run output from the previous season with 39.
Cash later said of the 1961 season: "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."
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