Norm Cash
Cash's 1961 season remains one of baseball's most fascinating statistical mysteries. The Detroit slugger hit .361 that year — a mark that would win most batting titles — yet finished second to teammate Al Kaline's torrid start. What makes it remarkable is how far it exceeded anything else in Cash's career; he never hit above .286 in any other season.
The first baseman carved out a solid 17-year career with consistent power, averaging 22 home runs per season and posting a respectable 118 OPS+. His peak came a decade later in 1971, when he launched 32 homers at age 36 and put up his second-best OPS+ of 132.
Cash embodied the steady slugger archetype of his era — not flashy enough for Cooperstown consideration, but reliable enough to anchor Detroit's lineup through their 1968 championship run and beyond.
Career · Batting
17 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | CWS | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .500 | — |
| 1959 | CWS | 58 | 104 | 4 | 16 | .240 | .747 | — |
| 1960 | DET | 121 | 353 | 18 | 63 | .286 | .903 | — |
| 1961 | DET | 159 | 535 | 41 | 132 | .361 | 1.148 | — |
| 1962 | DET | 148 | 507 | 39 | 89 | .243 | .894 | — |
| 1963 | DET | 147 | 493 | 26 | 79 | .270 | .856 | — |
| 1964 | DET | 144 | 479 | 23 | 83 | .257 | .804 | — |
| 1965 | DET | 142 | 467 | 30 | 82 | .266 | .883 | — |
| 1966 | DET | 160 | 603 | 32 | 93 | .279 | .829 | — |
| 1967 | DET | 152 | 488 | 22 | 72 | .242 | .783 | — |
| 1968 | DET | 127 | 411 | 25 | 63 | .263 | .816 | — |
| 1969 | DET | 142 | 483 | 22 | 74 | .280 | .831 | — |
| 1970 | DET | 130 | 370 | 15 | 53 | .259 | .823 | 116 |
| 1971 | DET | 135 | 452 | 32 | 91 | .283 | .903 | 132 |
| 1972 | DET | 137 | 440 | 22 | 61 | .259 | .783 | 118 |
| 1973 | DET | 121 | 363 | 19 | 40 | .262 | .828 | 118 |
| 1974 | DET | 53 | 149 | 7 | 12 | .228 | .744 | 107 |
| Career | 2089 | 6705 | 377 | 1103 | .271 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.