The outfielder and third baseman, a native of Henderson, North Carolina, threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg).

He was a United States Army veteran of World War II who spent all of the 1944 and 1945 seasons in military service.

In 1940, at age 27, he had a stellar year for the Richmond Colts of the Class B Piedmont League, clubbing 30 home runs and hitting .337.

In his MLB début, Maynard led off and played center field for the Giants in their game against the Chicago Cubs at the Polo Grounds.

[3] Then, in Maynard's final 1940 appearance, he collected four hits in four at bats, including another triple, and scored three runs against the Boston Bees in a 14–0 Giant rout.

Lasorda recalled that, as a teenager in the early 1940s, he had attended his first major league game at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, a contest between the Phillies and Maynard's Giants.

As the game ended, the young Lasorda and his friends gathered in the runway between the teams' dugouts and their clubhouses in search of autographs from the big-league players.

Roger Angell, Hall of Fame baseball writer and former fiction editor of The New Yorker, described what happened next: "'I couldn't believe it,' [Lasorda said.]

"[5] During his 20 years as manager of the Dodgers, Lasorda regularly told that story to his young players, advising them, "Always give an autograph when somebody asks you ... You can never tell.