Norm Cash

Norman Dalton Cash, nicknamed “Stormin’ Norman,” was a first baseman who played nearly his whole big-league career for the Detroit Tigers. When he retired, his 377 home runs ranked fourth among American League left-handed hitters, trailing only Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Lou Gehrig. His 373 homers with Detroit are tied for second in franchise history with Miguel Cabrera, behind Al Kaline’s 399. Cash also led the AL in assists three times and in fielding percentage twice. At retirement, he stood fourth all-time in assists (1,317), tenth in double plays (1,347), and fifth in AL history for games played at first base (1,943).

Born in Justiceburg, Texas, on November 10, 1933, Cash attended Sul Ross State Teachers College, where he earned All-Lone Star Conference honors in both football and baseball. The Chicago Bears drafted him as a running back in 1955, but he turned down pro football.

Cash signed with the Chicago White Sox in 1955, spent 1957 in the military, and debuted with the club that season, mostly as an outfielder and pinch hitter. He appeared in 58 games for the AL pennant-winners, but after the team acquired Ted Kluszewski on August 25, Cash found himself on the bench. In the World Series, he went hitless in four pinch-hit at-bats. That December, he was part of an eight-player trade sending him to the Cleveland Indians, with Minnie Miñoso returning to Chicago. Indians general manager Frank Lane then dealt Cash to Detroit for Steve Demeter, who played only four more major league games. Both Chicago and Cleveland would regret the moves for the next 15 years, as Cash won a batting title in 1961 and a World Series ring in 1968 with the Tigers.

For 15 seasons, Cash anchored the middle of Detroit’s lineup as part of one of baseball’s best offenses. In 1960, he became the first AL player with at least 400 plate appearances to ground into no double plays since the league began tracking the stat in 1940.

Cash’s 1961 season was one of the most improbable in major league history. A veteran who had never hit above .286 in the majors, he led the AL with a .361 average, tied for the league lead with 193 hits, and posted 41 homers (sixth), 132 RBIs (fourth), 119 runs (fourth), 124 walks (second), a .487 on-base percentage (first), 354 total bases (second), and a .662 slugging percentage (second). Yet his year was overshadowed by Roger Maris’s 61 homers and teammate Rocky Colavito’s higher home run and RBI totals. Still, Cash’s .361 average was the highest by any major leaguer in the 1960s and wasn’t topped by another Tiger until Magglio Ordóñez hit .363 in 2007. Detroit went 101–61, their best record since 1934, and led baseball in runs, but finished eight games behind the New York Yankees. Cash placed fourth in MVP voting.

Later, Cash admitted he used an illegal corked bat during the 1961 season and others. He drilled a hole in his bats and filled it with sawdust, cork, and glue—a trick he learned in the minors. (Subsequent studies found corked bats offered little real benefit beyond a psychological boost.) His 1961 numbers proved to be career highs he never approached again; he never reached 100 runs or 100 RBIs afterward and never batted above .283. His average dropped 118 points to .243 in 1962, the largest fall by a batting champion, though he hit 39 homers, nearly matching his previous year’s total.

Cash later 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.”

Pitcher Mickey Lolich once asked Cash why he never hit for a high average after 1961. “He told me, ‘Jim Campbell pays me to hit home runs,’” Lolich recalled. “Norm then said, ‘I can get hits if I want to, just watch tomorrow.’ The next day he went 3-for-4.”

On June 11, 1961, Cash became the first Tiger to hit a home run out of Tiger Stadium, clearing the right-field roof. He did it three more times in his career. On June 27, 1963, he played a full game at first base without a single defensive chance as the Twins won 10–6.

Though overshadowed by Hall-of-Fame roommate Al Kaline, Cash hit 30 or more homers four more times after 1961 and at least 20 in ten of the next eleven seasons. He was the only AL player to hit 20 homers every year from 1961 to 1969. He finished second in the league in home runs three times (behind Harmon Killebrew in 1962, Tony Conigliaro in 1965, and Bill Melton in 1971). Detroit ranked among the AL’s top three scoring teams every year from 1961 through 1968.

Cash was also regarded as one of the best defensive first basemen of the 1960s, leading the league in putouts (1961), fielding percentage (1964, 1967), and assists (1965–67).

In 1968, a year dominated by pitching, Cash hit .263 with 25 homers, helping the Tigers win 103 games and the AL pennant. In the World Series, he batted .385 (10-for-26) with one home run. With two outs in the seventh inning of Game 7, he singled off Bob Gibson to spark a three-run rally that broke a scoreless tie and gave Detroit its first championship since 1945. Cash died on October 11, 1986.