Two-time All-Star Charlie Maxwell has passed away, the Tigers announced today. The longtime Detroit outfielder was 97 years old.
A lifelong Michigan resident, Maxwell played college ball at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, working primarily as a pitcher during that time. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945 and spent two years in the military before being discharged and joining the Red Sox minor league system as a pitcher, though he appeared in just ten games before converting to the outfield. Maxwell made his major league debut in 1950 with a three-game cup of coffee that saw him draw a walk and score a run but strike out three times without recording a hit in nine trips to the plate.
Maxwell bounced between the big league Red Sox and the club’s minor league system with lackluster results at the big league level for a number of years, hitting just .203/.289/.285 in parts of four seasons with the club while finding himself unable to secure a regular role. That all changed in 1955, when the Red Sox sold him to the Orioles. He made just four trips to the plate in Baltimore before being sold a second time, this time to his hometown Tigers. Maxwell’s career took off virtually from the moment he set foot in Detroit. Though he only appeared in 55 games for the club during the 1955 campaign, he made the most of every opportunity given to him with a solid .266/.325/.541 slash line that included 18 home runs in just 122 trips to the plate.
That substantial power earned Maxwell the Tigers’ starting left field job the following year, and he responded with the first All-Star appearance of his career. The slugger slashed an excellent .326/.414/.534 with 28 homers and more walks (79) than strikeouts (74). While standout performances from teammates Al Kaline and Frank Lary somewhat overshadowed Maxwell’s fantastic season, he nonetheless managed to earn some down-ballot consideration for the AL MVP award. The 1956 season was more of the same in many ways for Maxwell. While his numbers (.276/.377/.482 in 138 games) took a bit of a step back from his first season as a regular, Maxwell earned another All-Star appearance and some down-ballot AL MVP consideration despite being outmatched by fantastic seasons from teammates Kaline and Jim Bunning.
Those back-to-back All-Star campaigns were the strongest of Maxwell’s career, and he found himself comparing favorably with some of the league’s best players at the time. His 52 home runs across those two seasons were good for the 15th highest total in the majors, leaving him sandwiched between Hall of Famers Yogi Berra (54) and Kaline (50) on the league leaderboard. His 13.2% walk rate was the tenth-highest figure in the majors over those two seasons, and had more advanced metrics like wRC+ existed at the time Maxwell’s 140 figure for those two years would’ve put him just a hair behind the production of Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (141) over that same period.
Maxwell’s efforts over the remainder of his tenure in Detroit never quite resulted in a season that dominant again, but he still held his own at the plate with a solid .250/.348/.440 slash line with the Tigers from 1958 to 1961, a stretch which included a 31-homer campaign in 1959 and a third season where he garnered down-ballot MVP consideration in 1960. Maxwell’s tenure with the Tigers came to an end in 1962, however, as he hit just .194/.273/.269 in 30 games with the club before being traded to the White Sox.
Maxwell enjoyed something of a late-career resurgence upon arriving in Chicago and slashed a respectable .269/.382/.441 across three seasons as a part-time player for the club before hanging up the spikes two games into his age-37 season in Chicago. In all, Maxwell appeared in 1,133 games during his time in the majors while collecting 532 RBI, 148 home runs and 856 hits. He was a lifetime .264/.360/.451 hitter in 3,796 big league plate appearances. MLBTR sends our condolences to Maxwell’s family, friends, and loved ones.
“532 home runs”?
With only 856 hits! A true three outcome player.
Absolute monstrous hit/HR ratio
Nickname was Paw Paw in honor of his hometown.
I thought it was just what his grandkids called him. Nickname longevity.
I never heard him called Paw Paw, but rather the “Sunday Punch” because he had a reputation for coming through in Sunday games. But he was from Paw Paw, Michigan. I have his 1961 baseball card. RIP.
532 homers? He should be in the HOF
One HR out of every 6 ABs…. And people said Barry Bonds was good!
Only people who said Barry Bonds was good were those who ignored cheating.
lol. Bonds was great and cheating.
Hof before that
Nick, you have a typo. He did not end up with anywhere near 532 homers.
How did you know Charlie?
Your friend? Seriously? Is there anyone that is a current or former mlb player you don’t know?
It seemed like Charlie had a knack for hitting HRs on Sundays.
Jesus 532 homers from 856 hits what a slugger
Should be 532 RBI…
“Sunday Charlie Maxwell” used to kill the Yankees, especially on the sabbath .
heinie manush…..the Sabbath is in Saturday.
As a kid it was always fun to follow the Tigers on Sunday afternoons. Especially if Frank Lary was pitching. Lary would win and Charlie would hit a HR.
40 of his 148 career home runs were hit on a Sunday… pretty remarkable for ‘Ol PawPaw Maxwell.
He was a good, but not great player, I remember hi
M frommmy cards.
I know you guys are having a bit of fun at the authors expense, but this is an article about a player who passed away. Chill out a bit? Show some respect?
Charlie Maxwell’s 1955 and 1956 seasons don’t get the love they deserve when you look back on baseball history. If we use modern metrics, his 140 wRC+ in that span puts him in elite company, just a tick behind Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (141). Maxwell’s 13.2% walk rate shows how sharp his eye was at the plate—well above the league average of around 8%. Add in his 52 home runs over those two seasons, and it’s clear he was the kind of power-and-patience hitter who’d be a star in today’s game.
Never heard of this guy but he had some decent numbers he put up. Probably be getting paid 6-10 million a year with these ridiculous new contracts.
He didn’t hit 500 plus homers he hit 148
I’ve use Charlie Maxwell often on the Immaculate Grid when needing a 30 homer hitter or AS. He isn’t often remembered, but he had some good seasons. RIP Charlie Maxwell.
Have had him a couple times on WIS.
He had a very good 5yr run.
He had 7 HRs and 18 RBI in 1955, not 18 HRs.
Nice write up.
A long career playing close to your family is a dream. He lived it.
RIP.
He was a late-inning defensive replacement in the first game I ever went to, with the ’63 White Sox. His was also among the first baseball cards I ever owned as a kid. RIP!
RIP. A very underrated player in his day.
RIP Charlie…..
Good get by the Tigers from Baltimore. Some nice seasons in Detroit.
I’d take 97 in a heartbeat.
I have a gorgeous 1963 Topps PSA graded 9 of Maxwell.
RIP Charlie
Another beauty is the 1959 Topps Pitchers Beware card #34 with Kaline and Maxwell on it.
Great card of Charlie in a White Sox uniform.
Sunday Charlie Maxwell. Yankee Killer
Aloha folks,
RIP Charlie.
Of course I was not around during his career but got into baseball cards because of my dad. So wanting to try and complete say the 1952 Topps set minus the rare scare high series that includes Mantle, just recently I was able to get a nice 52′ Maxwell card. He was hard to get, I believe a short print card. Mahalo
@kgcubs I literally was talking to my dad about Charlie Maxwell the other day. He was a topic of conservation as I have been looking to help dad finish his 52 Topps set and having a hard time finding this card. Luckily dad has a Mantle. I looked up Charlie Maxwell and was surprised to see he was still alive at the time. Good long life, hope he lived it to the fullest. RIP Mr. Maxwell.
Aloha McQueen, that is a neat story! So cool your father has the Mantle from the tough 4 series of that set! I have so many of those high series cards but figured I’ll concentrate on the first 310. Take care now and Happy New Year! Mahalo
18 hrs in 122 abs? That’s not a typo? He came up and went scorched earth. Record blasting pace.
Always remembered him from my baseball cards because he was listed as being from Paw Paw, Michigan.
He became the mayor of Paw Paw.
RIP
RIP, Paw Paw. 97 is a heck of a life.
Nice screen name. I remember John Lowenstein and “Let it be Lowenbrau,” and you mashed them up!
I will say it again. MLBTR should do a monthly focus on an MLB player of the past. Celebrate them while they are alive. Go out and do an interview letting them know we are thinking of them. It would be amazing to hear their stories.
Bill Greason and Art Shallock just turned 100.
I’m a school teacher with a degree in History. Offer me a competitive wage (LOL, that should be easy) and I would gladly do it and go to their homes for an interview. I’m 60 years old, so it would be an amazing early retirement job.
I hope you get the gig. Too many from my past have been totally forgotten.
With Charlie Maxwell’s death, only 110 MLB players whose careers began before 1960 are left. Two started in the 1940s (Bobby Shantz and Tommy “Buckshot” Brown). Shantz lives near me and has had a fantastic life in baseball and beyond. He is the last living Major Leaguer to have played for Connie Mack. His next birthday will be his 100th.
Detroit legend mainly for a couple of specific reasons noted above, and a very nice person.
97 is a great run. Old time baseball. Condolences to his family n friends. RIP
He was well regarded in Chicago, prominently known as Paw Paw, the Michigan town which he was from, I do recall.
I’ve always wondered what the careers of Charlie Maxwell, Irv Noren, Bob Cerv and other exceptional players of the 1950s had their organizations gave them a full time chance either earlier or later in their careers. MLB couldn’t get out of their own way in the 1950s.
RIP.
Rip Charlie , you were before my time , but still sad to see . Decent player
I grew up on the East Coast and hated the Yankees more than any other team. I spent many afternoons at the old Yankee Stadium and the one team that could regularly beat the Yankees were the Tigers.
So I went to as many Tiger-Yankee games as possible, and I got to see Charlie “Paw Paw” Maxwell hammer the Yanks—along with Kaline, Lary, Kuenn, Tuttle, Frank Bolling,Foytack, Hoeft and others. I’ll always have a soft spot for Charlie Maxwell and the Tigers.
And I notice further down in the comments that someone mentioned a lot of his HRs were on Sundays. Correct! And I saw a bunch of them against the Yankees.
Grateful MLB has always valued preservation of statistics. Thanks Nick for putting in to words “Paw Paw” M’s career journey through his many statistical accomplishments. Great read.
RIP Charlie. Condolences to family.