Norm Cash facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Norm Cash |
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Cash in 1966
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| First baseman | |||
| Born: November 10, 1933 Justiceburg, Texas, U.S. |
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| Died: October 11, 1986 (aged 52) Beaver Island, Michigan, U.S. |
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| debut | |||
| June 18, 1958, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| August 6, 1974, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .271 | ||
| Home runs | 377 | ||
| Runs batted in | 1,104 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Norman Dalton Cash (born November 10, 1933 – died October 11, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball player. He was a first baseman and spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers.
Norm Cash was known as a powerful hitter. He hit 377 home runs during his career. This was the second-highest number of home runs for a Detroit Tigers player, right after his teammate Al Kaline. Fans and teammates called him "Stormin' Norman" because of his strong hitting.
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Early Life and Baseball Start
Norm Cash was born in Justiceburg, Texas. He went to Sul Ross State Teachers College. There, he played both football and baseball. He was even drafted by the Chicago Bears football team in 1955, but he chose to play baseball instead.
He signed with the Chicago White Sox in 1955. After serving in the military in 1957, he started playing for the White Sox in 1958. He played a small number of games as an outfielder and pinch hitter.
In 1959, he played in 58 games for the White Sox. They won the American League championship that year. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians in December 1959. However, the Indians quickly traded him to the Detroit Tigers. This trade turned out to be a great move for the Tigers.
Playing for the Detroit Tigers
Norm Cash became a key player for the Detroit Tigers for 15 seasons. He helped make their offense one of the best in baseball.
In 1960, he did not hit into any double plays. He was the first American League player since 1940 to do this with at least 400 times at bat.
His Amazing 1961 Season
Cash had an incredible year in 1961. It was one of the most surprising seasons for any player in baseball history. He had never hit for a high batting average before. But in 1961, he led the American League with a .361 average.
He also hit 41 home runs and had 132 runs batted in. He scored 119 runs and had 124 walks. His .487 on-base percentage was the best in the league.
His amazing season happened in the same year Roger Maris hit 61 home runs. The Tigers had a great record of 101 wins and 61 losses. This was their best record since 1934. Cash finished fourth in the voting for the MVP award.
Later in his career, Norm Cash mentioned that he used a special bat in 1961. He believed this modified bat helped him hit better. Studies done much later suggested that such bats might not have given a real advantage. Instead, they likely gave players a big boost in confidence.
After 1961, his statistics were not as high. His batting average dropped to .243 in 1962. This was the biggest drop ever for a batting champion.
Cash once said about his 1961 season: "It was a freak. Everything I hit seemed to drop in, even when I didn't make good contact."
A Great Hitter and Fielder
Even though his batting average dropped after 1961, Cash continued to hit many home runs. He hit 30 or more home runs four more times. He hit at least 20 home runs in ten of the next eleven seasons. He was the only American League player to hit at least 20 home runs every year from 1961 to 1969.
Cash was also a very good defensive first baseman. He led the league in putouts in 1961. He also led in fielding percentage in 1964 and 1967, and in assists from 1965 to 1967.
In the 1968 World Series, Cash played a big role. He hit .385 in the series. In Game 7, he got a hit that started a three-run rally. This helped the Tigers win their first World Series title since 1945. He also hit a home run in Game 1 of the 1972 American League Championship Series.
The Tigers released him in August 1974.
A Fun Teammate
Norm Cash was very popular with his teammates and fans. He was known for his great sense of humor.
On July 15, 1973, during a game where Nolan Ryan was pitching a no-hitter, Cash did something funny. He walked to the plate with a table leg from the clubhouse instead of a bat! The umpire told him to use a real bat. Cash then hit a pop-up to end the game.
His teammate Jim Northrup remembered the moment. Cash told the umpire, "Why not, I won't hit him anyway." After hitting the pop-up, he said, "See, I told ya."
Al Kaline, who was Cash's teammate for many years, said: "When you mention Norm Cash, I just smile. He was just a fun guy to be around and a great teammate."
Cash also did other funny things. Once, when he was caught between bases, he stopped and made a "T" with his hands to call time-out. Another time, he missed a foul ball in the stands. He then turned a young fan's cap around, took some popcorn from the boy's box, and said, "Thanks, kid."
Jim Northrup also recalled that after a rain delay, Cash would sometimes try to move to the next base. If he was on second base before the rain, he would try to go to third. Northrup said, "Norm had more fun than anybody."
Cash was also one of the few players who did not wear a batting helmet during his career. Helmets became required in 1971, but veteran players like him were allowed to wear protective liners inside their caps instead.
Career Statistics
Norm Cash had a career batting average of .271. He hit 377 home runs and had 1104 runs batted in. He also scored 1046 runs and had 1820 hits.
He holds several Detroit Tigers defensive records for a first baseman. These include most games played (1912), most putouts (14,926), and most double plays (1328). He had a .992 fielding percentage at first base.
Cash is one of only eight players in Tigers history to play at least 2,000 regular season games with the team.
He once joked about his success: "I owe my success to expansion pitching, a short right-field fence, and my hollow bats."
Caribbean Baseball
Cash also played winter baseball in Venezuela during the 1958–59 season. His team, the Indios de Oriente, won the league championship. They represented Venezuela in the 1959 Caribbean Series.
In that tournament, Cash had a .360 batting average. He led the series in home runs (2) and runs batted in (11). He also drove in six runs in one game, which was a series record. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Later Life
After retiring from baseball, Norm Cash played professional softball for two seasons (1977–1978). He played for the Detroit Caesars, a team owned by Mike Ilitch, who later owned the Detroit Tigers. The Caesars won league titles in both seasons Cash played with them.
Cash also worked as a color commentator for baseball games on TV. He worked for ABC's Monday Night Baseball in 1976. He also broadcast Tigers games from 1981 to 1983.
In October 1986, Norm Cash died in an accident. He slipped off a dock and hit his head on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan. He is buried in Pine Lake Cemetery, West Bloomfield, Michigan.
On April 23, 2005, the high school and Little League baseball field in Post, Texas were named after Norm Cash. He was also inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
See also
- 1961 Detroit Tigers season
- 1968 Detroit Tigers season
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- Alpine Cowboys
