Norm Cash

[Cowtipper]

Norm Cash played from 1958 to 1974, hitting .271 with 377 home runs, 1103 RBI and an OPS+ of 139.

A six-time All-Star, Cash led the league in batting average, OBP, OPS, hits, OWP, TOB, HBP and IBB in 1961. Then again, he also cheated that year. He led the league in AB/HR in 1965 and 1971.

A solid playoff hitter, Cash hit .304 with two home runs in 46 postseason at-bats.

Statistically, Cash is similar to no Hall of Famers. However, he is similar to Gil Hodges, Frank Howard, Rocky Colavito, Boog Powell, Joe Adcock, Jack Clark, Tino Martinez, Roy Sievers, George Foster and Andruw Jones.

The Baseball Page ranks Cash as the 31st best first baseman of all time. He received only six votes for the Hall of Fame in 1980.

What do you think? Should Cash be in the Hall of Fame?

[SABR Matt]

As I have been pursuaded that the cluster of players including Keith Hernandez, Fred McGriff, Cap Anson and Will Clark should be hall of famers given the large number of top notch first basemen to have played the game (forcing me to give 1B a little more breathing room in my HOF voting)...I voted yes to Norm Cash. Cash is right smack dab in the middle of that group. He's ahead of Clark and Hernandez, behind Anson and McGriff.

[Fuzzy Bear]

As I have been pursuaded that the cluster of players including Keith Hernandez, Fred McGriff, Cap Anson and Will Clark should be hall of famers given the large number of top notch first basemen to have played the game (forcing me to give 1B a little more breathing room in my HOF voting)...I voted yes to Norm Cash. Cash is right smack dab in the middle of that group. He's ahead of Clark and Hernandez, behind Anson and McGriff.

I voted "maybe" on Cash. I want to say "yes", as Cash was one of my favorite players when I was younger, and a guy who, IMO, never got the full credit he deserved as a great player.

Cash's lifetime Offensive Winning Percentage is .707 in a career that lasted to age 39. Although he was hurt in his last season and missed much time, he still posted a .567 Offensive Winning Percentage; not great, but still above replacement level for a first baseman. The criticism of Cash is that he was hurt a lot, and missed quite a few games due to injury. That has to be balanced by how effective he was when he did play.

The other criticism of Cash is that his .707 Offensive Winning Percentage is made possible by his 1961 season which, while absolutely super (his OWP that year was ahead of Maris, Mantle, and Gentile, the 1-2-3 finishers in MVP voting), is also extremely out of context with the rest of his career. Cash was, for the most part, a .680-ish OWP guy, and he WAS over .700 five times.

Cash is borderline, and unlike many borderline candidates, he doesn't have any "milestone" qualifications to point to, so he's not likely to make the HOF. Cash will forever be lumped in with Roy Sievers, Boog Powell, Rocky Colavito, and some other AL sluggers of his era. He was better than all of those guys, and Matt's analysis is right, but I don't see this being recognized by HOF voters any time soon.

[SABR Matt]

Norm Cash by the numbers:

Yr Lg Off Def O-M D-M Wins
1961 AL 15.77 2.32 27.3 3.1 18.09
1965 AL 9.02 2.45 14.5 3.6 11.47
1971 AL 9.18 0.78 15.0 0.4 9.96
1963 AL 7.72 1.93 11.7 2.5 9.65
1962 AL 7.11 2.48 10.2 3.4 9.59
1966 AL 7.62 1.23 11.0 1.0 8.85
1972 AL 5.64 2.61 8.1 4.0 8.25
1969 AL 6.54 1.67 9.6 2.1 8.21
1960 AL 6.57 1.36 10.4 1.9 7.93
1968 AL 5.36 2.18 7.8 3.3 7.54
1964 AL 5.89 1.58 8.2 1.9 7.47
1967 AL 6.02 1.34 8.4 1.4 7.36
1973 AL 4.73 1.48 6.8 2.0 6.21
1970 AL 4.48 0.99 6.1 1.0 5.47
1974 AL 1.73 0.81 2.4 1.2 2.54
1959 AL 1.22 0.10 1.6 0.0 1.32

Clearly...his 1961 season was out of context...sometimes players have career years. :) But that's real value that shouldn't be ignored just because lightning only struck once. Outside of that one brilliant season early in his career, Cash was just very...very consistent. Rattling off year after year of 7-9 win production (limited some by injuries), but as you can see...his offensive win to Marker exchange rates are very high...he missed time to injury...had he been healthy, he'd have produced at a much higher clip.

[Paul Wendt]

. . .
The criticism of Cash is that he was hurt a lot, and missed quite a few games due to injury. . . .

The other criticism of Cash is that his .707 Offensive Winning Percentage is made possible by his 1961 season which, while absolutely super . . . is also extremely out of context with the rest of his career. . . .
The other other criticism is that the missing games and the high OWP were partly the consequences of platooning. Compare Lou Whitaker. Unfortunately I have no time for this, beyond tracking down and posting a hopeful link. or two.
Norm Cash at the Hall of Merit (http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/hall_of_merit/discussion/norm_cash)
Selected 20th Century Candidates at the Hall of Merit (http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/hall_of_merit/discussion/23091/) (alphabetical directory)

[SABR Matt]

Let's check the splits...now that B-R has them

vs. R: OPS of .910 (6215 PA)
vs. L: OPS of .692 (1699 PA)

His % PA vs. LHP is 21.5%, which is a little low but not remarkably so. I see no evidence that he was platooned more than your typical left handed batter.

I do see evidence that he had an ENORMOUS L/R split...but evidently, they let him play through it most of the time.

[digglahhh]

But that's real value that shouldn't be ignored just because lightning only struck once.

"Lightning" is a strange euphemism for "cork." :D

And, this from an aspiring meteorologist... :D

[SABR Matt]

Oh come on...do you really think he corked his bat in '61...and then after being spectacularly successful doing so...chose never to cork again?? :)

Players sometimes have good years. It doesn't mean every out of place great year is cheating.

[digglahhh]

Oh come on...do you really think he corked his bat in '61...and then after being spectacularly successful doing so...chose never to cork again?? :)

Yes. I do.

You know why?

Because he admitted to doing so.

It is, as the old oxymoron goes, common knowledge about Norm Cash.

The OP even made a reference to it.

[SABR Matt]

Why would he do that? Why cork for one season and then never again? That makes no sense...LOL Not saying you're wrong...if he's actually said he did, that's another matter...but...why?

[Cowtipper]

Why would he do that? Why cork for one season and then never again? That makes no sense...LOL Not saying you're wrong...if he's actually said he did, that's another matter...but...why?

Maybe he felt guilty about doing it.

[SABR Matt]

This is why I come to these forums though...I simply cannot get a deep biographical insight into all of the historical players...it's too much information to take in with my limited spare time...but I learn new things that help put the numbers into their proper context every day.

[Paul Wendt]

Let's check the splits...now that B-R has them

vs. R: OPS of .910 (6215 PA)
vs. L: OPS of .692 (1699 PA)

His % PA vs. LHP is 21.5%, which is a little low but not remarkably so.
against what benchmark?

AL pitching was very lefthanded during his later years, about 33%, but it was more than 25% lefty "always".

The record shows LHP worked an extra-high share of AL innings beginning with the 1969 expansion when that league added 4300 lh innings and 4500 rh innings(!). . . . while the NL added 800 lh innings and 7300 rh innings!

One future spotcheck: in 1981 lefties pitched 33% of AL inns and 25% of NL inns.


Pitching hand in the American League, 1968-1974 (innings)
yearID lgID 3Xinnings throws
1968 AL 12549 L
1968 AL 31111 R
1969 AL 16825 L
1969 AL 35685 R
1970 AL 18011 L ; lefty share of innings > 1/3
1970 AL 34330 R
1971 AL 17466 L ; lefty share of innings > 1/3
1971 AL 34408 R
1972 AL 16291 L
1972 AL 33670 R
1973 AL 17820 L ; lefty share of innings > 1/3
1973 AL 34370 R
1974 AL 18669 L ; lefty share of innings > 1/3
1974 AL 33677 R
Lefty pitchers worked more than 1/3 of the innings in 1970-71 and 1973-74. During those four seasons (bold in his record below), Norm Cash faced lefty pitchers in fewer than 1/6 of his plate appearances, in aggregate.

Pitching hand faced by Norm Cash (plate appearances, from 1974 back to 1958)
right, left
165, 7 : 1974, age 39, finale in Detroit and in MLB
380, 40
419, 82
390,133
389, 63
409,147
381, 77 : 1968, ratio of plate appearances by pitching hand R/L ~ 5
409,168
471,211
417,136
416,143
453,140
476,153
511,162
393, 55 : 1960, age 25, first of 15 seasons in Detroit
128, 2
8, 0 : 1958, age 23, first of two part-seasons in Chicago

At a glance it appears that Cash did not work much against lefty pitchers in 1958-60, 1968, 1970, and 1972-74 (underline in his record above); that is 6++ of his 15++ seasons.

> I see no evidence that he was platooned more than your typical left handed batter.

That is another matter. Its truth may be indiscernible from league and Cash statistics alone. The league aggregates show the effects of pinch-batting and pinch-pitching, that is in-game substitutions. Lefty batters in AL aggregate enjoyed righty pitching in close to 78% of their plate appearances. (roughly 18600 rhp, 5300 lhp?)
Yet, the comparison with "typical" lh batters may be irrelevant here in the HOF forum. We may expect that a typical batter enjoys the platoon advantage more than does Norm Cash or another great batter.

[SABR Matt]

Thanks for the data...but it makes my case...not yours. I was not saying Cash wasn't platooned late in his career...but during the heart of his career when the bulk of his performance statistics were accumulated, he was batted like any normal lefty...I was also not saying that he faced the same percentage of lefty pitchers as a typical all-star lefty batter...but thanks for proving that he did face the same number of lefty pitchers as the typical lefty batter, which is what I WAS saying.

When compared to other HOF lefties, I think you will find he wasn't platooned so much more as to make a huge difference in comparisons...though I'm sure there was a small gap.

[AstrosFan]

As I have been pursuaded that the cluster of players including Keith Hernandez, Fred McGriff, Cap Anson and Will Clark should be hall of famers given the large number of top notch first basemen to have played the game (forcing me to give 1B a little more breathing room in my HOF voting)...I voted yes to Norm Cash. Cash is right smack dab in the middle of that group. He's ahead of Clark and Hernandez, behind Anson and McGriff.

It's funny you say that, because Clark and Cash probably define the border of the Hall for me. I'm just not sure whether either should be in or not.

[SABR Matt]

Yeah...I should probably have voted "maybe" in this poll...but as I already said...I hate that answer. :) They're right on the border...Clark and Cash...

[Paul Wendt]

The criticism of Cash is that he was hurt a lot, and missed quite a few games due to injury.
Au contraire, the finger of Norm Cash's missed playing time has been placed much too firmly on injuries. Cash spent time on the bench because the Tigers faced a left-hand pitcher, which is commonly called "platooning" or a "platoon" tactic.

Baseball teams face a mix of lefty and righty pitchers throughout the season. A player who misses time primarily because of injuries will face lefty and righty pitchers in about the same proportions as lefty and righty pitchers worked against his team. Departures from team-aggregate proportions indicate that the player misses time for reasons other than injury. To wit, he sits against some lefty pitchers on days when he would play against a righty (that is common for a lefty batter), or he sits against some righty pitchers on days when he would play against a lefty (that is common for a righty batter).

[SABR Matt]

I think we all know what platooning is...there's no need to talk to Fuzzy like he's a 4 year old. Geez.

You still have not made your case that Cash was platooned more than the typical left handed batter.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Au contraire, the finger of Norm Cash's missed playing time has been placed much too firmly on injuries. Cash spent time on the bench because the Tigers faced a left-hand pitcher, which is commonly called "platooning" or a "platoon" tactic.

Baseball teams face a mix of lefty and righty pitchers throughout the season. A player who misses time primarily because of injuries will face lefty and righty pitchers in about the same proportions as lefty and righty pitchers worked against his team. Departures from team-aggregate proportions indicate that the player misses time for reasons other than injury. To wit, he sits against some lefty pitchers on days when he would play against a righty (that is common for a lefty batter), or he sits against some righty pitchers on days when he would play against a lefty (that is common for a righty batter).

A disproportionate amount of Cash being "platooned" began at age 37. Even then, Cash was never a straight platoon player, a la Ron Bloomberg. The "platooning" was, in all likelihood, against only the toughest lefties, and designed to give Cash a rest. (If we're going to hold this against Cash, by all means, let's hold it against Yaz, who was a platoon DH for a number of years at the very end of his career.)

Cash missed time with injuries during 1968; he was not "platooned". If true, it was a bad move by the Tigers, as Cash actually had a reverse-platoon differential in 1968, in both BA and slugging.