Charlie Maxwell
| Charlie Maxwell | |
|---|---|
Maxwell with Detroit, c. 1959 | |
| Left fielder | |
| Born: April 8, 1927 Lawton, Michigan, U.S. | |
| Died: December 27, 2024 (aged 97) Paw Paw, Michigan, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 20, 1950, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 26, 1964, for the Chicago White Sox | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .264 |
| Home runs | 148 |
| Runs batted in | 532 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Charles Richard Maxwell (April 8, 1927 – December 27, 2024), sometimes known as "Sunday Charlie", "The Sabbath Slugger", and "Ol' Paw Paw", was an American left-handed professional baseball left fielder. A native of Michigan, he played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Boston Red Sox (1950–52, 1954), Baltimore Orioles (1955), Detroit Tigers (1955–62), and Chicago White Sox (1962–64).
Maxwell was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1956 and 1957. In 1956, he finished among the American League (AL) leaders with a .534 slugging percentage (third in the AL behind Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams); a .326 batting average (fourth in AL behind Mantle, Williams, and Detroit teammate Harvey Kuenn); a .414 on-base percentage (fourth in the AL); and 96 runs (fourth in the AL). He led all American League outfielders in fielding percentage in 1957 (.997) and 1960 (.996), committing only one error in each year. He also finished among the top five home run hitters in the American League in 1956 (28) and 1959 (31).
For his 14 years in the major leagues, Maxwell compiled a .264 batting average, a .360 on-base percentage, and a .451 slugging percentage with 148 home runs, 484 walks, and 532 RBIs. He appeared in 1,133 games, including 781 in left field, 56 in right field, and 43 at first base. He posted a .988 career fielding percentage. He was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.