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Bob Lawrence

Baseball ∙ Beaver Falls

A 1956 graduate of Beaver Falls High School, Bob Lawrence earned a reputation for outstanding hitting. As a 16 year old, he hit a baseball into the centerfield seats at Yankee Stadium, the start of a long and successful baseball career. Elected to the Hearst United States All Star Team in 1955 as a high school junior, the slugging first baseman spent the week in New York and played at Yankee Stadium. After turning down an offer to play professional baseball after high school graduation, Bob entered Indiana University, where he batted .472 his sophomore year and won the Big 10 batting championship and the Hoosiers’ MVP. His five home runs in conference play led the Big 10 and his 14 RBIs tied for the conference title, making him a Triple Crown winner. In the summer of 1958 he played semipro ball in Little Falls, Minnesota, and batted .440. In the playoffs Bob had 11 hits over four games and smacked two home runs, three triples, and two doubles, and one of his homers traveled over 460 feet. Signing a contract in 1958 for a reported $50,000 with the Boston Red Sox organization, Bob's professional career began in 1959 at Corning, New York, where he was named team MVP. In 1961 at Waterloo in the Midwest League he hit 30 home runs (a league record at the time), had 127 RBIs, and batted .305, earning another league MVP. In 1962 Bob was named MVP of his Army baseball team at Fort Chaffee. His professional career ended in 1964 after reaching Class AAA Seattle. Bob returned to Indiana University in 1965 and coached the baseball team until 1980.