[3] He played baseball at Stockport High School and began pitching as a senior, but "he was so wild there was as much likelihood of his tosses hitting the third baseman as there was of them arriving somewhere in the vicinity of the batter.

"[3] After graduating from high school, he played semi-pro baseball and developed a reputation for his ability to strike out 10 to 15 batters per game.

[3] After it was discovered that Lawson had played semi-pro baseball, he was declared ineligible to compete in intercollegiate athletics.

[3] He made his Major League Baseball debut on August 3, 1930, pitching 3-1/3 innings against the St. Louis Browns and allowing one earned run.

[2] Lawson remained with the Indians during their 1931 season, appearing in 17 games (three as a starter) and compiling a 0–2 record and 7.60 ERA.

[5] On September 4, 1933, and after a strong season with Toledo, Lawson was sold to the Detroit Tigers for cash and players.

[8] He appeared in four games for the Tigers during their 1933 season, two as a starter, and compiled a 0–1 record with a 7.31 ERA in 16 innings pitched.

[5] On August 21, 1935, the Detroit Tigers again purchased Lawson from Toledo, with the intention of using him as a relief pitcher during the final weeks of a season that was heavy with doubleheaders.

[1] On August 24, manager Mickey Cochrane tabbed Lawson to start for the Tigers against Lefty Grove and the Boston Red Sox.

Lawson was at the time the best pitcher in the American League (his 2.70 ERA led the American League in 1935), and an account in the Detroit Free Press analogized Cochrane's decision to start Lawson against Grove and Boston to throwing a sacrificial lamb to the lions.

Four days later, on August 28, he pitched a four-hit shutout and prevented a batter from advancing beyond second base against the Philadelphia Athletics.

Lawson also hit a single and a double against Philadelphia, and the shutout gave him an 18-inning scoreless streak in the week since joining the Tigers.

[2] Sportswriter Clifford Bloodgood in Baseball Magazine described Lawson in 1937 as "a pitcher who has a variety of stuff, the most baffling of which perhaps is an excellent change of pace" and noted that Lawson's delivery of his change of pace pitch "masks his intentions completely.

He began the season with the Browns, but was traded to the Montreal Royals of the international League in April.

[20] He spent only one season with Meridian and was hired in January 1948 as the manager of the Green Bay Bluejays.