New York Mets: The Phil Regan All Star team

First base
Norm Cash, Regan’s teammate on the Detroit Tigers from 1960 through 1965, retired 45 seasons ago. Nevertheless, Cash is actually the junior member of the All-Regan teammate team, not having come to the big leagues until 1958.

Cash won the American League batting title for Detroit in 1961 when he hit .361. That same year, Regan – a 24-year-old in his first full season – made 32 appearances, 16 of them starts. He went 10-7 but with a 5.25 ERA as the Tigers made an inspired run at the 1961 pennant. Powered by Cash and Al Kaline, they went 101-61 to finish second in the expanded 10-team American League.
Granted, that was eight games behind the powerhouse Yankees, but it was also a 30-game improvement over Detroit’s 71-83 finish of just one season before.

Traded from the Chicago White Sox prior to the 1960 season, he remained with the Tigers through 1974, being named to four All Star teams and retiring with 377 home runs.

But Cash’s health began to decline soon after. In 1979, he suffered a stroke. He recovered sufficiently to do some television work, but he died in October of 1986 at age 51. At the time, Regan was concluding a three-season stint as pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners.