With the passings of both Darren Daulton and Don Baylor, I sorely neglected to pay proper tribute to another recently departed big leaguer. On July 29th, former MLB player and coach Lee May died of cancer at the age of 74.
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, May was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 1961 and debuted with the team late in the 1965 season. His breakout season came in 1969 when he hit .278 with 38 HR and career high 110 RBI and the first of his three NL All-Star Team selections. The following year, the Reds won the NL pennant. Although the Reds fell to the Baltimore Orioles in five games, May hit .389 with 2 HR and 8 RBI.
May would belt a career high 39 home runs in 1971, but the Reds would slip to fourth place in the NL West. In one of the most significant trades in MLB history, the Reds dealt May to the Houston Astros in exchange for two key pieces of the Big Red Machine -- Joe Morgan and Cesar Geronimo. Although May enjoyed three productive seasons in Houston and the Astros finished .500 or above in each of his three seasons, they were no match for the Reds who went on to win two World Series while Morgan earned back to back NL MVPs in 1975 and 1976.
In 1975, May would find himself in the AL as the Astros dealt him to the Baltimore Orioles in a trade which included Enos Cabell. May led the Orioles with 99 RBI in his inaugural season in Baltimore where he was teammates with Don Baylor. In 1976, May led the AL in RBIs with 109. Between 1968 and 1978, May belted at least 20 home runs and drove in at least 80 runs. This streak would snap in 1979 when his numbers fell to 19 HR and 69 RBI. But May would return to the World Series with the Orioles who blew a 3-1 series lead to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
May spent his final two big league seasons with the Kansas City Royals retiring after the 1982 season. In 18 seasons, May hit .267 with 354 HR and 1244 RBI.
In 1985, May would finally earn a World Series ring with the Kansas City Royals as he served as the team's hitting coach. May would serve as a hitting coach, first base coach or minor league hitting instructor with the Royals, Reds and Orioles as well as the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Cleveland Indians and most recently as the hitting instructor for the Greenville Drive, the Single A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
May's younger brother Carlos spent 10 years in the bigs with the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and California Angels while his son Jacob made his major league debut with the Chisox on Opening Day 2017. R.I.P.
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