He led all American League outfielders in fielding percentage in 1957 (.997) and 1960 (.996), committing only one error in each year.
[1] He grew up on his father Tom Maxwell's grape farm in Lawton, tilling his own asparagus patch at age 12.
[4] At the end of his freshman year at Western Michigan, Maxwell was inducted into the United States Army, serving as a sergeant in the infantry.
[6] Before making his major-league debut, Maxwell spent several years in the Boston Red Sox farm system.
[7] After a month with the club, Wellsville manager Tom Carey told Maxwell "your control's pretty bad, kid, but you hit a long ball.
He started fast at Roanoke, but injuries hampered his performance, and he ended the 1948 season with a .294 batting average with 12 home runs.
[6] Maxwell began the 1949 season with the Single-A Scranton Miners of the Eastern League,[10] but he was optioned back to Roanoke in early May.
[8] On his return to Roanoke, Maxwell won the Piedmont League Triple crown with a .345 batting average, 29 home runs, and 112 RBIs.
[11] On May 25, 1949, Maxwell capped a comeback from a 13–4 deficit with a two-out, three-run homer in the ninth inning.
He compiled a .320 batting average (.422 on-base percentage, .604 slugging) with 25 home runs in 192 games during the regular season.
[1] With Ted Williams ensconced as Boston's left fielder, Maxwell saw limited action for the Red Sox.
One account noted: "Maxwell became Ted's caddy, playing the odd innings and games when Williams was taking a rest, and making occasional appearances as a pinch hitter.
[17] He played the full 1953 season for the Colonels, compiling a .305 batting average, .405 on-base percentage, 93 walks, 23 home runs and 107 RBIs.
Maxwell appeared in 74 games for the Red Sox in 1954, 12 as a starter in left field, but his batting average remained underwhelming at .250.
)[15] Maxwell's defensive performance remained strong in 1960, as he led all American League outfielders in fielding percentage for the second time in his career.
[15] The peak of Maxwell's Sunday slugging success came on May 3, 1959, in a doubleheader sweep of the New York Yankees, before a crowd of 43,438.
After missing 10 days with a broken finger, Maxwell returned to the lineup and hit four home runs in consecutive at bats: a solo home run into the upper deck of right field against Don Larsen in the seventh inning of the first game; a two-run shot against Duke Maas in the first inning of the second game; a 400-foot three-run shot off the facing of the centerfield bleachers against Johnny Kucks in the fourth inning of the second game; and a 415-foot solo home run into the lower centerfield bleachers against Zach Monroe in the seventh inning of the second game.
"[26] He joined Ted Williams Bill Nicholson, Hank Greenberg, Jimmy Foxx, and Lou Gehrig as the only modern major leaguers to hit home runs in four consecutive official at bats.
When asked how he was able to hit so many home runs on Sundays, Maxwell replied, "I don't know how but I sure wish I could find out so I could do it on the other days of the week.
[28] He was also sometimes known as "The People's Choice" due to his friendliness with fans and his pregame entertaining of busloads of kids (known as the Knothole Gang) seated in the leftfield stands on Saturdays, including "catch[ing] fly balls behind his back, or between his legs, and then toss[ing] them to the youngsters.
By the third week of August, Maxwell was batting .352 for Chicago, and had a 13-game hitting streak, the team's longest that year.
His batting average dropped by 65 points from the prior year to .231, though his ability to draw walks (31 in 1963) boosted his on-base percentage to .370.
"[34] After his playing career ended in 1964, Maxwell was hired in September 1964 as a salesman for Cal-Die Casting Co. of Kalamazoo.
[35][30] He later worked as a sales representative for Hayes-Albion Corp. and Paramount Diecasting, companies that supplied parts to automobile manufacturers.