Bob Lawson

Robert Baker Lawson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.
• School University of North Carolina
• Debut May 7, 1901
• Final Game June 10, 1902
• Born August 23, 1876 in Brookneal, VA USA
• Died October 28, 1952 in Durham, NC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bob Lawson pitched three years for the University of North Carolina (1897-1899) and was the first player from UNC to come to the majors.

He had a cup of coffee with the Boston Beaneaters in 1901. Before the 1902 season he jumped from Boston to the Baltimore Orioles only to get another cup of coffee (1902). Although primarily a pitcher, he also played the oufield and third base.

He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War I (BN). He coached baseball, football, track and gymnastics at the University of North Carolina, and was the trainer for the university's athletic teams. Regarded as the "Father of Basketball" at the University, he was also an Associate Professor of Anatomy for the medical school from 1906 to 1936 and the physical education department from 1936 until he retired in 1949.

He died at age 77 in Watts Hospital in Durham, NC and is buried at Old Chapel Cemetery in Chapel Hill, NC.

Sources

Principal sources for Bob Lawson include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs {{{WW}}} (WW), old Baseball Registers {{{BR}}} (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN {{{DAG}}} (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) {{{MORE}}} and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

Find-A-Grave Memorial for Bob Lawson