Garland Lawing Explained

Garland Lawing
Position:Outfielder
Bats:Right
Throws:Right
Birth Date:29 August 1918
Birth Place:Gastonia, North Carolina
Death Place:Murrells Inlet, South Carolina
Debutleague:MLB
Debutdate:May 29
Debutyear:1946
Debutteam:Cincinnati Reds
Finalleague:MLB
Finaldate:July 20
Finalyear:1946
Finalteam:New York Giants
Statleague:MLB
Stat1label:Batting average
Stat1value:.133
Stat2label:Home runs
Stat2value:0
Stat3label:Runs batted in
Stat3value:0
Teams:

Garland Frederick Lawing (August 29, 1918 – September 27, 1996) was an American professional baseball player. He appeared in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and pinch hitter in ten games during the season for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants. Lawing threw and batted right-handed; he stood 6feet tall and weighed .

Born in Gastonia, North Carolina, Lawing broke into pro baseball in 1938 in the Class D North Carolina State League. He had reached the Class A1 (now Double-A) level in 1943 when, after only 24 games played, he entered the United States Army. Lawing served in the European Theater of Operations during World War II[1] and missed the 1944 and 1945 baseball seasons.

He split 1946 between the Reds and the Giants, going hitless in three at bats with Cincinnati as a centerfielder and pinch hitter in two games played on May 29 and June 6. Then, on June 8, his contract was sold to the Giants, and he collected his first MLB hit, a pinch single, off Johnny Vander Meer and his old teammates from the Reds on June 11.[2] But he played in only eight total games for New York, four as a starting outfielder, and batted only .167 as a Giant. For his MLB career, he hit .133 in 15 at-bats.

Lawing then returned to minor league baseball in 1947, and retired after the 1954 season. He died in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, at the age of 78.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.baseballinwartime.com/those_who_served/those_who_served_atoz.htm Baseball in Wartime
  2. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1946/B06110CIN1946.htm Information