Norm Cash

Lore & Background

Cash was born in Justiceburg, Garza County, Texas, and attended 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. In December 1959, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in an eight-player deal, but Indians' general manager Frank Lane traded Cash to Detroit for Steve Demeter. Cash won a batting title in 1961 and a World Series ring in 1968 wearing a Detroit uniform. He was released by the Tigers in August 1974 after hitting .228 in 53 games.

In Their Own Story

The late summer air hung thick over Briggs Stadium, the kind of humid Detroit evening where the lights felt like they were burning through the haze. Cash stood in the batter's box, knees bent, the bat resting on his shoulder with the casual confidence of a man who had done this a thousand times and intended to do it a thousand more. The pitcher wound up. Cash's swing was a compact, violent arc—left-handed, almost lazy in its setup but devastating at contact. The crack echoed off the outfield wall, and the ball sailed into the upper deck with a silence that told everyone it was gone. He didn't celebrate. He just tapped the bat against his palm, looked up at the stands where the orange-and-blue flags were snapping in the breeze, and walked back to the dugout. That was Mr. Tiger. No fireworks. Just the job, done with the weight of a city behind it.

Reader's Guide

Cash filled the middle of the Tigers lineup for 15 seasons. In 1960, he grounded into no double plays, the first AL player with at least 400 plate appearances in a season to accomplish that since 1940. He enjoyed a breakout season in 1961, leading the AL with a .361 average, while posting 193 hits, 41 home runs, 132 RBI, 119 runs, 124 walks, a .487 on-base percentage, and a .662 slugging average. He openly admitted to using an illegal corked bat during the 1961 season among others. On June 11, 1961, he became the first Tiger to hit a home run out of Tiger Stadium, clearing the right field roof. He hit .263 with 25 home runs in 1968, and in the World Series hit .385 with one home run. He was released by the Tigers in August 1974.

Did You Know?

• Cash's 377 career home runs were the fourth most by an AL left-handed hitter when he retired, behind Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig.
• He led the AL in assists three times and fielding percentage twice.
• Cash was drafted by the Chicago Bears as a running back in 1955 but declined to play pro football.
• He once went to the plate with a table leg from the clubhouse instead of a regulation bat during a Nolan Ryan no-hitter attempt in 1973.
• Cash never wore a batting helmet during his major league career.