Rudy May Passes Away

Former MLB pitcher Rudy May passed away earlier this week at the age of 80, according to an obituary published in local North Carolina newspaper The Daily Advance. Jeff Pearlman first reported May’s passing yesterday. A veteran of 16 MLB seasons, May pitched for the Angels, Yankees, Orioles, and Expos during his lengthy career in the big leagues.

A left-handed pitcher, May grew up in Oakland alongside childhood friend and future Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. He impressed as one of the best pitchers in the area during his high school days before being signed by a Twins scout in 1962 and subsequently selected in the first-year player draft by the White Sox in 1963. By the end of 1964, May was already on the fourth organization of his professional career as he was traded to the Phillies by the White Sox ahead of the Rule 5 draft before being flipped to the Angels shortly thereafter.

It was with Anaheim that May finally made his big league debut in 1965, and the then-20-year-old hurler posted decent but unexceptional numbers in his rookie campaign. In 30 appearances (including 19 starts), May logged 124 innings of work but surrendered a pedestrian 3.92 ERA, which was 14% below average in the era just before the year of the pitcher in 1968. That would be May’s only big league action for years due to injuries he suffered in the minor leagues in 1965, but he eventually resurfaced at the big league level as a 24-year-old in 1969. That year, May posted a league average 3.44 ERA in 180 1/3 innings of work that solidified his spot on the Angels’ roster, and he’d spend the next five seasons as a quality back-of-the-rotation arms for the club with a 3.51 ERA (96 ERA+) across 948 2/3 innings of work.

He once again began the season with the Angels in 1974, but a brutal 7.00 ERA in his first 27 innings of work that year upon being pushed into a bullpen role prompted the club to deal him to the Yankees that summer. May experienced a revival in New York down the stretch, dominating the competition to the tune of a 2.28 ERA (156 ERA+) with 90 strikeouts in 114 1/3 innings of work over his 17 appearances (15 starts) in the Bronx following the trade. He followed up on that performance with an excellent 1975 season where he pitched to a 3.06 ERA (122 ERA+) in 212 innings of work in a mid-rotation role behind club ace (and future Hall of Famer) Catfish Hunter. Unfortunately, a step back in performance in 1976 led May to be traded once again, this time to the Orioles.

That 1976 season kicked off something of a lull in May’s career, as he reverted to the back-of-the-rotation form he had shown throughout his time with the Angels. In three seasons split between the Yankees, Orioles, and Expos from 1976 to 1978, May pitched to a pedestrian 3.71 ERA in 99 appearances, 92 of which were starts, and racked up 616 innings of work. That led the veteran southpaw to be moved to a relief role during his second year with the Expos in 1979, but the lefty dominated in the role with a sterling 2.31 ERA (160 ERA+) in 93 2/3 innings of work across 33 appearances, only seven of which were starts.

He’d continue to pitch in that sort of hybrid role upon being re-acquired by the Yankees in 1980, which turned out to be perhaps the best season of his career. Although May started only 17 of his 41 games played that year, he posted phenomenal numbers in the role as he led the American League with a 2.46 ERA (160 ERA+) while throwing 175 1/3 frames. The 1980 season also saw May, then 35, appear in the postseason for the first time in his career. The lefty was dealt a tough-luck loss in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Royals that October, as the Yankees lost 3-2 despite May pitching eight strong innings of three-run ball.

He’d return to the postseason in 1981 on the heels of a lackluster regular season, but this time he and the Yankees enjoyed some success. May made a solid relief appearance against the Brewers in the ALDS before posting a lackluster start against Oakland in the ALCS, but when the Yankees made it to the World Series opposite the Dodgers he managed to turn in 6 1/3 strong relief innings across three appearances even as his club eventually lost in six games. Overall, May posted a respectable 3.66 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 19 2/3 postseason innings during those years with the Yankees, which wound up being the only postseason outings of his career.

May pitched two more years with the Yankees following the club’s loss in the 1981 World Series and enjoyed a strong rebound campaign in 1982, and though he re-signed with New York on a two-year contract he made just 15 appearances in 1983 due to injury and missed the entire 1984 season with back issues before retirement. In all, May appeared in 535 games at the big league level and drew the start in 360 of those contests. He pitched to an above-average 3.46 ERA during his career and collected 152 wins and 1760 strikeouts across his 2622 innings of work in the majors. Those of us at MLBTR extend our condolences to May’s family, friends and loved ones.