Norm Cash Apparent Drowning Victim : Former Tiger First Baseman Won the AL Batting Title in 1961

Norm Cash, a first baseman for the Detroit Tigers for 15 years and the American League batting champion in 1961, apparently drowned Sunday while boating in northern Lake Michigan, authorities said.

The body of Cash, 51, of Bloomfield Hills, was positively identified by his wife, said Patrick Avery, a corrections officer for the Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Department.

Cash was reported missing early Sunday, and a body believed to be his was pulled from the water by divers later in the day, said Sgt. Gary Gokey of the state police. The body was discovered about 11 a.m. in about 15 feet of water just offshore from Beaver Island, located 32 miles northwest of Charlevoix in Lake Michigan, Avery said.

“His boat was over at Beaver Island,” Gokey said. “He’s known to frequent the Charlevoix area. He’s got a big pleasure boat, a cabin cruiser.”

The body was flown from Beaver Island to Charlevoix for positive identification by the sheriff’s department, Gokey said.

“Right now, it appears to be a drowning,” Avery said, adding that an investigation was continuing.

Cash, born in Justiceburg, Tex., started his major league career in 1958, playing for the Chicago White Sox for two seasons before joining the Tigers in 1960.

Cash won the American League batting title in 1961 with a .361 average.

Cash played for the 1968 World Series champion Detroit team, batting .385 in the Series. He also played on the 1959 White Sox World Series team. Cash retired from baseball in 1974 with a lifetime .271 batting average and 377 home runs.

In June of 1971, Cash suffered a slight stroke.