Lee May
Lee May was an American baseball player born on March 23, 1943, in Birmingham.
May attended A. H. Parker High School in Birmingham, where his early years took shape before his career in professional baseball. He went on to play the sport at the highest level, building a life shaped by the game he pursued from a young age.
His death on July 29, 2017, in Cincinnati, closed a life that had moved between two cities — Birmingham, where it began, and Cincinnati, where it ended — with baseball running as a constant thread through the years between.
The arc of May's life, from his Birmingham upbringing through his years as a professional baseball player, reflects the trajectory of a man whose occupation defined much of his public identity. He remained a figure associated with the sport throughout his life, and it is as a baseball player that he is remembered.
Quotes by Lee May
I never had a good game against him because, in catching, Ellie talked too much. I asked him, 'Please give me one at bat, but just don't talk.' He gave me one pitch, (then it was) back to the conversation.
That might have been the worst point of my life in baseball. I had never played with anybody but the Reds. We had gelled together and all of a sudden I got traded, kicked out of the house. It took a while to get over it.
It's easy to get caught up in the fanfare, and you can really see that a lot of people get into all of that. But it helps bring people to the church.
It's like you're born into a family -- you get up there in age, you leave home, but you're always part of the family. So I guess I'll always be a Red at heart.
Ellie was a kind, wonderful person. He never met a stranger. I don't have enough words, I don't have enough time, to explain the greatness of this guy.
