A native of
New Castle, Delaware, he graduated from
William Penn High School. He signed with the
San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent in 1961. May 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 dealt from the
Orioles to the
Brewers for
Dick Baney and
Buzz Stephen before the trade deadline on June 15, 1970. However, upon coming to the Brewers, he became an effective hitter. In his first full season in Milwaukee, , May hit 16
home runs and had 65
RBI, and batted .277. After an off year in , he rebounded to finish eighth in the
MVP voting in 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, his production declined in , so the Brewers traded him to the
Atlanta Braves for
Hank Aaron. May was part of a five-for-one trade that sent him,
Ken Henderson,
Roger Moret,
Adrian Devine,
Carl Morton and $200,000 from the Braves to the Rangers for
Jeff Burroughs on December 9, 1976. 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. May 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. ==References==