General
Charlie Maxwell, Who Hit Homers in 4 Consecutive At-Bats, Dies at 97
An All-Star outfielder for the Tigers, he tied a major league record with that feat on a Sunday (what else?) in 1959 playing against the Yankees in Detroit.
Charlie Maxwell, a two-time All-Star outfielder who tied a major league record in May 1959 he hit home runs in four successive official at-bats while playing for the Detroit Tigers. died on Friday in Paw Paw, Mich. He was 97. .
His death was announced by the Adams Funeral Home of Paw Paw.
Maxwell, a left-handed batter, was listed at just 5 feet 11 inches and 185 pounds, but he drew on his powerful arms and strong wrists to hit 148 home runs and drive in 532 runs while playing in the American League for 15 seasons with five different teams. He was also a brilliant left fielder, committing only 21 lifetime errors. But he never played on a pennant-winning club.
He was selected for the A.L. All-Star team in 1956, when he batted a career high .326, and was chosen again in 1957.
Maxwell’s four-homer afternoon came on May 3, 1959, when the Tigers faced the Yankees in a Sunday doubleheader in Detroit at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium). He duplicated a feat that had been achieved most notably by the Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg. To date, more than a dozen players have hit four straight homers.
Leading off in the seventh inning of the first game — his last at-bat in that game — Maxwell drove a Don Larsen fastball deep into the upper deck in right field.
