Charles R. Maxwell

Charles R. Maxwell was born in Lawton, Michigan, on April 8, 1927, the youngest of four children of Tom and Isa Maxwell. He graduated from Lawton High School, received a baseball scholarship from Western Michigan University, served in the U.S. Army, and played minor league baseball in Wellsville, New York, Birmingham, Alabama, Louisville, Kentucky, and Roanoke, Virginia, where he met his wife Ann. He and Ann moved to Paw Paw to raise their children, Richard, Jeffrey, Cindy, and Kelle. An outfielder, he made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 20, 1950, later played in the American League with Baltimore, Detroit, and Chicago, and while with the Tigers became known as "Ol' Paw Paw." He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. In a 14-year career spanning 1950-1952 and 1954-1964, he played 1133 games, had 3245 at bats, scored 478 runs, made 856 hits, hit 148 home runs, had 532 runs batted in, posted a .264 average and a .988 fielding average, led American League outfielders in fielding in 1957 and 1960, committed only 25 lifetime errors, was a two-time American League All Star with Detroit in 1956 and 1957, and tied a major league record with four consecutive home runs in a Sunday double header against the New York Yankees in 1959.

Paw Paw, Michigan · United States