Bill 'Ready' Cash, Phila. Stars star, 92

BILL CASH never made it to major-league baseball, but not for a lack of trying or talent.

An all-star catcher for the Philadelphia Stars in the Negro National League, Bill was signed in 1952 by the Chicago White Sox, but was relegated, to his dismay, to the organization's minor-league teams, where his career slowly, painfully died.

What he could have been was expressed by Al Cihocki, his manager in Bismarck, N.D., Bill's last team, in a recent interview with the Baseball Exchange magazine:

"How about Bill Cash?" Cihocki said. "Boy, could he hit and throw! If he was playing today, he would be worth a fortune." That was, of course, the fate of many Negro League stars in the bad old days before Jackie Robinson integrated the Major Leagues in 1947, and for years afterward.

William Walker Cash Sr., a catcher with the Philadelphia Stars from 1943 to 1950, whose playing career ranged from Canada to Mexico to the Dominican Republic to Venezuela and Cuba, as well as the Midwest, and who also was active in Philadelphia recreation centers working to keep inner-city baseball alive for African-American youngsters, died Monday.

He was 92 and lived in Southwest Philadelphia.

Bill was known as "Ready," a nickname he got after he was benched during a game and protested to the manager, "When I put on the uniform, I'm ready to play." The name stuck.

After his baseball career, Bill was employed for 30 years by Westinghouse Electric Co. as a machinist at its plant in Lester, Delaware County. He retired in 1985.

As a ballplayer, Bill had a strong arm, as many an opposing player discovered trying to steal second base, and was a reliable hitter.

He played in the Negro League Baseball All-Star Games in 1948 and 1949.

He and fellow Philadelphia Stars player Stanley Green were honored by the Phillies before a game with the Cincinnati Reds on June 5, 2008, at Citizens Bank Park. They were presented with new Phillies jerseys.

Bill Cash and Green, along with Stars infielder Mahlon Duckett, were among local Negro League players who were guests when a Negro Leagues Memorial Statue was unveiled at 44th Street and Parkside Avenue, where the Stars played.

Duckett, who also lives in Philadelphia, said Bill Cash was "the best catcher in the league."

Writing in the Baseball Examiner, Nick Diunte described meeting Bill at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in 2008 and being impressed by his hands.

"I marvelled at the size of his hands, which were not only huge, but disfigured from the multiple broken fingers due to the hazards of catching," Diunte wrote. "I wondered about the power of those hands during his prime."

Bill was born in Round Oak., Ga., the youngest of the four sons of Arthur "Buster" Cash Sr. and Lela Lloyd Cash. The family moved to Southwest Philadelphia and Bill graduated from Overbrook High School in 1939.

He played semi-pro and sandlot baseball for various area teams before joining the Stars.

In 1952, at age 33, Bill was signed by the White Sox. He said he was promised a spot with Class A Colorado Springs, where he batted .375 during spring training. However, he was sent to the Class B Waterloo Hawks, in Waterloo, Iowa.

Although he felt betrayed, he stayed with the Hawks, hoping to prove his major-league worthiness. But he broke his leg during the season, and when he returned he was sent to Class C Superior, in Duluth, Minn. He played a few more years in the Mandrak League in North Dakota before calling it quits in 1955.

Bill married the late Sadie Bell in 1940.

He spent many hours working for the youth of Philadelphia. He founded the Cobbs Creek Baseball Little League Association, and was vice president of the Foundation for Juvenile Decency.

He often spoke at churches, schools and elsewhere about his experiences as a ballplayer and the roadblocks African-Americans must often overcome.

Bill was an active member of Calvary Baptist Church in Philadelphia, where he was a deacon, and the First African Baptist Church in Sharon Hill, where he was a senior deacon. In 1994, he was among other Negro League veterans honored at the White House by President Bill Clinton. He was a member of the board of the Negro League Baseball Players Association, and was inducted into the National Negro Baseball Museum of History in 1981.

He was a 33rd degree Mason.

He is survived by two sons, William "Billy" Cash Jr. and Michael Cash Sr.; six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. In addition to his wife, he was predeceased by a daughter, Janet.

Services: Were Monday.