Lee May Marquee

b. March 23, 1943 · Cincinnati Reds 1965–1971, Houston Astros 1972–1974, Baltimore Orioles 1975–1980, Kansas City Royals 1981–1982

He hit 354 home runs, drove in 1,244 and had 2,031 hits across eighteen seasons, batting .267. He led the American League in runs batted in in 1976 with 109, for Baltimore, at thirty-three.

Cincinnati traded him to Houston in November 1971 in the deal that brought Joe Morgan the other way. The Reds then won four pennants and two World Series in the next five years and the trade is regarded as one of the most one-sided any club has made. He had hit 38 home runs for them in 1969 and was twenty-eight when they moved him.

His brother Carlos May played ten seasons and the two of them appeared in the same All-Star Game in 1972. Three All-Star selections. The writers gave him three votes of 427 in 1988 and he came off the ballot immediately. He died in 2017, at seventy-four.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	3	1969, 1971, 1972
Player of the Week	2	1974, 1975
The Sporting News All-Star	1	1971
The Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year	1	1967

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1965	CIN	5	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
1966	CIN	25	75	14	25	5	1	2	10	0	14	0	.333
1967	CIN	127	438	54	116	29	2	12	57	19	80	4	.265
1968	CIN	146	559	78	162	32	1	22	80	34	100	4	.290
1969	CIN	158	607	85	169	32	3	38	110	45	142	5	.278
1970	CIN	153	605	78	153	34	2	34	94	38	125	1	.253
1971	CIN	147	553	85	154	17	3	39	98	42	135	3	.278
1972	HOU	148	592	87	168	31	2	29	98	52	145	3	.284
1973	HOU	148	545	65	147	24	3	28	105	34	122	1	.270
1974	HOU	152	556	59	149	26	0	24	85	17	97	1	.268
1975	BAL	146	580	67	152	28	3	20	99	36	91	1	.262
1976	BAL	148	530	61	137	17	4	25	109	41	104	4	.258
1977	BAL	150	585	75	148	16	2	27	99	38	119	2	.253
1978	BAL	148	556	56	137	16	1	25	80	31	110	5	.246
1979	BAL	124	456	59	116	15	0	19	69	28	100	3	.254
1980	BAL	78	222	20	54	10	2	7	31	15	53	2	.243
1981	KCR	26	55	3	16	3	0	0	8	3	14	0	.291
1982	KCR	42	91	12	28	5	2	3	12	14	18	0	.308
Career	—	2071	7609	959	2031	340	31	354	1244	487	1570	39	.267

On this day & linked events

1943

Born March 23, 1943

Birmingham, AL, USA

2017

Died July 29, 2017

1965

Major-league debut: Lee May

Lee May made a major-league debut on September 1, 1965.

1973

Lee May's Three-Home-Run Game, 1973

Lee May hit three home runs for the Houston Astros against the San Diego Padres on June 21, 1973.

1982

Final major-league game: Lee May

Lee May played a final major-league game on September 24, 1982.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain