Tales from First Base by Brad Engel & Wayne Stewart

Author:Brad Engel & Wayne Stewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potomac Books
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

LEE MAY

Cincinnati Reds 1965–1971; Houston Astros 1972–1974; Baltimore Orioles 1975–1980; Kansas City Royals 1981–1982

* * *

There’s no doubt Lee May was underappreciated by owners, general managers, and fans alike during his time with the Cincinnati Reds. Past teammates found a way to give him a hard time, too, even if it was in good fun.

During shortstop Dave Concepcion’s number 13 jersey retirement ceremony in 2007, Concepcion told May, “The only reason you got traded from the Reds was that you couldn’t handle my throws.” Said May, as reported in the Dayton Daily News, “On which bounce?”

May seemed to stand up for himself well enough, but when it comes to trades, players don’t have much say. So when Reds general manager Bob Howsam packaged May and others for Houston Astros second baseman Joe Morgan, center fielder Cesar Geronimo, pitcher Jack Billingham, infielder Denis Menke, and outfielder Ed Armbrister in November 1971, May’s time with the Big Red Machine was over.

Too bad for May, as the fun in Cincinnati was just about to begin. Under Howsam from 1967 to 1978, the Reds won six division titles, four NL pennants, and two World Series.

An underwhelming opinion of May continued to some degree when he returned to the Reds as a first base coach. Then-owner Marge Schott, as outspoken and controversial as they come in the big leagues, disparaged May and his fellow coaches when she said none of them was fit to replace manager Pete Rose.

When Schott eventually released Lee from his duties, he felt she broke a promise to him. “If baseball is coming to the way this lady is doing things,” Lee told the Associated Press, “I don’t want any part of it.”

The hits kept on coming. When May finally entered the Reds Hall of Fame, it was by way of the veterans committee of the Cincinnati chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America—not the fans.

“I’m ecstatic. I’d given up; I thought this would never happen,” May told the Dayton Daily News. “Even though I played the last eleven years of my career with other teams, I’m a lifer with the Reds. I came up with them and played seven years for them. They’re my team.”

May hit .274 for the Reds from 1965 through 1971 with 147 homers and 449 RBI. Lifetime, he hit .267 with 354 homers and 1,244 RBI. He hit 32 or more homers three straight seasons for the Reds and later recorded hit number 2,000 with Kansas City.

Lee will be remembered, all right. Reds Classic Rewind televised 6 classic Reds games on FOX Sports Ohio. Along with memories like Rose breaking Ty Cobb’s hit record and Tom Seaver’s only no-hitter, May’s clutch-hitting was promoted as the highlight of the Reds 6–5 win over Baltimore in Game 4 of the 1970 World Series, which they lost.

In some good company, May held another “who knew?” slugging record of sorts. Four pairs of teammates have hit back-to-back homers five times: New York Yankees Joe DiMaggio and Lou

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.