Batting average .251 Role Baseball player Name Dave May | Runs batted in 422 Home Runs 96 | |
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Died October 20, 2012, Bear, Delaware, United States | ||
David LaFrance May (December 23, 1943 – October 20, 2012) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder with the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers and the Pittsburgh Pirates between 1967 and 1978. He was an American League (AL) All-Star with the Brewers in 1973. He was a member of an AL pennant winner with the Orioles in 1969. He was the father of David May, Jr. (Major League Scout) and MLB player Derrick May.
Biography
A native of New Castle, Delaware, he graduated from William Penn High School in his hometown. He signed with the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent in 1961. The only year he spent in the Giants organization was in 1962 with the Salem Rebels where he led the team with a .379 batting average. He appeared in his first Major League game with the Baltimore Orioles. During the time he was with Baltimore (1967–1970), he never had higher than a .242 batting average and 152 at bats. He was then traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Dick Baney and Buzz Stephen. However, upon coming to the Brewers, he became an effective hitter. In his first full season in Milwaukee, 1971, May hit 16 home runs and had 65 RBI. After an off year in 1972, he rebounded to finish eighth in the MVP voting in 1973 with a .303 batting average, 25 home runs, and 93 RBI. He also led the league in total bases, and placed in second in hits. May is one of two Delawareans to make the All-Star Game. However, the production stopped in 1974, so the Brewers traded him to the Atlanta Braves for Hank Aaron. After the 1976 season, May was traded to the Texas Rangers. May was traded back to Milwaukee at trade deadline in 1978 to help the team on a pennant push. As the Brewers faded he was traded just before the August waiver wire deadline to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He then went to Spring Training with the Philadelphia Phillies and was their final cut before the 1979 season. He signed and played for Santo Domingo in the fledgling Inter-American League until it went defunct during the 1979 season. May then became a minor league coach, serving as a roving hitting instructor for the Atlanta Braves in 1981 and 1982
May was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1984.
May died at age 68 in Bear, Delaware on October 20, 2012.