Roxie Lawson

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Alfred Voyle "Roxie" Lawson (April 13, 1906, Donnellson, Iowa - April 9, 1977, Stockport, Iowa) was a Major League Baseball player.

After attending Iowa Wesleyan College, Roxie Lawson played nine Major League seasons as a right-handed pitcher with the Cleveland Indians (1930-1931), Detroit Tigers (1933, 1935-1939), and St. Louis Browns (1939-1940). Over nine seasons, he won 47 games and lost 39, with a career earned run average of 5.37.

By far, Lawson's best season was 1937, when he won 18 games and lost only 7 in 29 starts for the Tigers. He had career highs that year in wins (18), innings pitched (217.3), and games started (29). His 18 wins was third highest in the American League, and his won-loss percentage of .720 was sixth in the League. Lawson also threw 15 complete games in 1937, 10th best in the American League. In 1937, he also had a .259 batting average with five RBIs. His performance garnered him enough votes to be 19th in the 1937 American League Most Valuable Player voting.

In 1937, sportswriter Clifford Bloodgood wrote the following about Lawson in Baseball Magazine: "(Roxie) Lawson is a pitcher who has a variety of stuff, the most baffling of which perhaps is an excellent change of pace. In delivering this he masks his intentions completely, the only way to make it effective." [1]

For much of his career, he was a relief pitcher, ranking sixth in the American League in saves in 1936 and eighth in 1940.