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Milt May

Milton Scott May

Position: Catcher
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 190 lb.

Born: August 1, 1950 in Gary, IN
High School: St. Petersburg HS (St. Petersburg, FL)
Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 11th round of the 1968 amateur draft. (All Transactions)
Debut: September 8, 1970 (Age 20)
Teams (by GP): Giants/Pirates/Astros/Tigers/WhiteSox 1970-1984

Final Game: September 30, 1984 (Age 34)
Relatives: Son of Pinky May and Brother-In-Law of Pat Osburn
    About biographical information

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Fine Details  · Last updated Feb 13, 2013 1:17AM
All-Time Rank (among batters): #1311. Elliott Maddox… #1312. Mark Koenig… #1313. Joe Dugan… #1314. MILT MAY… #1315. Mike Mowrey… #1316. Gus Mancuso… #1317. Gregg Zaun… 

Standard Batting

More Stats

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1970 19 PIT NL 5 5 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .500 .600 .750 1.350 265 3 0 1 0 0 0
1971 20 PIT NL 49 137 126 15 35 1 0 6 25 0 0 9 16 .278 .321 .429 .750 109 54 6 0 0 2 3 2
1972 21 PIT NL 57 151 139 12 39 10 0 0 14 0 0 10 13 .281 .325 .353 .677 95 49 3 0 0 2 2 2
1973 22 PIT NL 101 322 283 29 76 8 1 7 31 0 1 34 26 .269 .349 .378 .727 104 107 9 2 1 2 12 2
1974 23 HOU NL 127 453 405 47 117 17 4 7 54 0 1 39 33 .289 .349 .402 .751 115 163 9 1 3 5 8 *2
1975 24 HOU NL 111 420 386 29 93 15 1 4 52 1 2 26 41 .241 .287 .316 .603 74 122 7 0 4 3 3 2
1976 25 DET AL 6 25 25 2 7 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 .280 .280 .320 .600 74 8 0 0 0 0 0 /2
1977 26 DET AL 115 438 397 32 99 9 3 12 46 0 0 26 31 .249 .291 .378 .669 78 150 14 0 8 7 2 *2
1978 27 DET AL 105 387 352 24 88 9 0 10 37 0 0 27 26 .250 .305 .361 .666 85 127 13 2 4 2 3 2
1979 28 TOT AL 71 233 213 24 54 15 0 7 31 0 0 15 28 .254 .307 .423 .730 95 90 4 2 2 1 2 2
1979 28 DET AL 6 12 11 1 3 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 .273 .333 .455 .788 108 5 1 0 0 0 1 /2
1979 28 CHW AL 65 221 202 23 51 13 0 7 28 0 0 14 27 .252 .306 .421 .727 95 85 3 2 2 1 1 2
1980 29 SFG NL 111 393 358 27 93 16 2 6 50 0 1 25 40 .260 .305 .366 .671 90 131 13 1 3 6 4 2
1981 30 SFG NL 97 354 316 20 98 17 0 2 33 1 4 34 29 .310 .376 .383 .759 118 121 7 0 3 1 10 *2 MVP-25
1982 31 SFG NL 114 429 395 29 104 19 0 9 39 0 1 28 38 .263 .311 .380 .691 94 150 4 0 5 1 8 *2
1983 32 TOT NL 73 221 198 18 49 6 0 6 20 2 2 22 24 .247 .323 .369 .691 94 73 6 0 1 0 7 2
1983 32 SFG NL 66 208 186 18 46 6 0 6 20 2 2 21 23 .247 .324 .376 .700 97 70 6 0 1 0 6 2
1983 32 PIT NL 7 13 12 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .250 .308 .250 .558 55 3 0 0 0 0 1 /2
1984 33 PIT NL 50 107 96 4 17 3 0 1 8 0 1 10 15 .177 .255 .240 .494 40 23 3 0 1 0 1 2
15 Yrs 1192 4075 3693 313 971 147 11 77 443 4 13 305 361 .263 .318 .371 .689 93 1371 98 9 35 32 65
162 Game Avg. 162 554 502 43 132 20 1 10 60 1 2 41 49 .263 .318 .371 .689 93 186 13 1 5 4 9
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
PIT (6 yrs) 269 735 660 61 172 23 1 14 80 0 2 64 71 .261 .326 .362 .688 94 239 21 3 2 6 19
SFG (4 yrs) 388 1384 1255 94 341 58 2 23 142 3 8 108 130 .272 .328 .376 .704 99 472 30 1 12 8 28
DET (4 yrs) 232 862 785 59 197 21 3 22 87 0 0 54 59 .251 .298 .369 .667 81 290 28 2 12 9 6
HOU (2 yrs) 238 873 791 76 210 32 5 11 106 1 3 65 74 .265 .319 .360 .679 95 285 16 1 7 8 11
CHW (1 yr) 65 221 202 23 51 13 0 7 28 0 0 14 27 .252 .306 .421 .727 95 85 3 2 2 1 1
NL (11 yrs) 895 2992 2706 231 723 113 8 48 328 4 13 237 275 .267 .325 .368 .693 97 996 67 5 21 22 58
AL (4 yrs) 297 1083 987 82 248 34 3 29 115 0 0 68 86 .251 .299 .380 .679 84 375 31 4 14 10 7

Player Value--Batters

WAR Explained (v2.1): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl
Year Age Tm Lg G PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR waaWL% 162WL% oWAR dWAR oRAR Salary Pos Awards
1970 19 PIT NL 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.1 0 1 0.1 .522 .501 0.1 0.0 1
1971 20 PIT NL 49 137 0 -0 -0 4 2 6 0.7 4 10 1.1 .513 .504 0.6 0.7 6 2
1972 21 PIT NL 57 151 -2 -1 0 4 2 4 0.5 4 8 0.9 .508 .503 0.4 0.7 4 2
1973 22 PIT NL 101 322 -2 -1 -0 -4 4 -3 -0.4 9 6 0.5 .496 .498 1.0 0.0 10 2
1974 23 HOU NL 127 453 6 -2 1 3 6 14 1.5 13 27 2.8 .512 .509 2.5 1.1 24 *2
1975 24 HOU NL 111 420 -13 -1 0 2 6 -6 -0.7 12 6 0.5 .494 .496 0.3 0.9 4 2
1976 25 DET AL 6 25 -1 -0 0 0 0 -1 -0.1 1 0 0.0 .487 .500 0.0 0.1 0 /2
1977 26 DET AL 115 438 -14 0 -2 5 6 -4 -0.3 14 10 1.0 .496 .497 0.5 1.3 5 $50,000 *2
1978 27 DET AL 105 387 -7 -0 0 1 5 -1 0.0 12 12 1.2 .499 .499 1.1 0.8 11 2
1979 28 DET AL 6 12 -0 -0 -0 -1 0 -1 -0.1 0 -1 -0.1 .477 .499 0.0 -0.1 0 /2
1979 28 CHW AL 65 221 -4 -0 1 -2 3 -2 -0.1 7 5 0.5 .497 .499 0.7 0.2 7 2
1980 29 SFG NL 111 393 -5 -2 -0 3 6 2 0.2 12 14 1.4 .502 .501 1.0 1.0 11 $280,000 2
1981 30 SFG NL 97 354 7 -5 0 -7 5 0 0.2 11 11 1.3 .501 .500 1.9 -0.1 18 $280,000 *2 MVP-25
1982 31 SFG NL 114 429 -2 -2 2 6 6 11 1.3 13 24 2.6 .511 .507 1.8 1.5 18 $280,000 *2
1983 32 SFG NL 66 208 3 -1 0 2 3 8 0.8 6 14 1.4 .512 .505 1.2 0.5 12 $280,000 2
1983 32 PIT NL 7 13 -0 0 0 0 0 -0 -0.0 0 0 0.0 .498 .500 0.0 0.0 0 /2
1984 33 PIT NL 50 107 -7 -0 -0 0 1 -7 -0.7 3 -3 -0.4 .485 .495 -0.4 0.2 -3 $280,000 2
15 Seasons 1192 4075 -39 -16 1 16 57 19 2.9 124 143 14.8 .502 .501 12.7 8.8 127 $1,450,000
Lg G PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR waaWL% 162WL% oWAR dWAR oRAR Salary Pos Awards
PIT (6 yrs) 269 735 -10 -2 -1 4 9 0 0.2 22 22 2.2 .500 .500 1.7 1.7 18 $280,000
SFG (4 yrs) 388 1384 5 -10 2 4 19 20 2.5 42 63 6.7 .506 .503 5.9 2.9 59 $1,120,000
DET (4 yrs) 232 862 -23 -1 -2 5 13 -7 -0.5 28 20 2.1 .497 .499 1.6 2.1 15 $50,000
HOU (2 yrs) 238 873 -7 -3 1 5 12 8 0.9 25 33 3.3 .504 .503 2.8 2.0 28
CHW (1 yr) 65 221 -4 -0 1 -2 3 -2 -0.1 7 5 0.5 .497 .499 0.7 0.2 7

Postseason Batting

Postseason Gamelog
Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
1971 20 PIT NL NLCS SFG W 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
1971 20 PIT NL WS BAL W 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 1 0 0 0 0 0
1972 21 PIT NL NLCS CIN L 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 1 0 0 0 0 0
2 Yrs (3 Series) 4 5 5 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .400 .400 .400 .800 2 0 0 0 0 0
2 NLCS 2 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 WS 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 1 0 0 0 0 0

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Adv Fielding w/ run summary
Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG PB WP SB CS CS% lgCS% PO Awards
1971 PIT NL 20 C 31 31 25 260.0 180 168 12 0 3 1.000 4 18 6.23 5.81 .988 6.34 6.33 5 3 4 7 64% 35% 1
1972 PIT NL 21 C 33 33 27 285.1 203 179 21 3 2 .985 4 17 6.31 6.06 .987 6.61 6.63 1 8 12 12 50% 37% 2
1973 PIT NL 22 C 79 78 66 666.2 450 402 36 12 4 .973 -4 -7 5.91 5.54 .987 6.34 6.34 5 31 39 20 34% 36% 1
1974 HOU NL 23 C 116 109 97 955.1 592 525 63 4 10 .993 3 4 5.54 5.07 .985 6.12 6.11 9 34 70 41 37% 33% 1
1975 HOU NL 24 C 102 99 83 863.0 647 568 70 9 8 .986 2 3 6.65 6.25 .985 6.03 6.02 18 44 65 47 42% 32% 3
1976 DET AL 25 C 6 6 5 53.2 38 33 5 0 0 1.000 0 0 6.37 6.33 .981 5.75 5.77 0 4 4 4 50% 34% 0
1977 DET AL 26 C 111 107 101 973.1 638 551 78 9 12 .986 5 6 5.82 5.67 .986 6.01 5.97 0 27 62 49 44% 39% 1
1978 DET AL 27 C 94 89 83 802.2 474 406 58 10 5 .979 1 1 5.20 4.94 .983 5.53 5.48 5 21 55 35 39% 38% 0
1979 TOT AL 28 C 70 61 44 532.0 330 296 28 6 1 .982 -3 -7 5.48 4.63 .982 5.46 5.39 7 18 41 22 35% 36% 0
1979 DET AL 28 C 5 2 1 25.0 20 19 1 0 0 1.000 -1 -48 7.20 4.00 .982 5.47 5.40 0 1 5 0 0% 36% 0
1979 CHW AL 28 C 65 59 43 507.0 310 277 27 6 1 .981 -2 -5 5.40 4.68 .982 5.46 5.39 7 17 36 22 38% 36% 0
1980 SFG NL 29 C 103 94 83 827.0 567 500 59 8 12 .986 3 4 6.08 5.43 .983 6.09 6.10 3 11 91 43 32% 31% 0
1981 SFG NL 30 C 93 86 73 765.1 522 468 48 6 4 .989 -7 -11 6.07 5.55 .983 5.93 5.95 4 33 89 33 27% 33% 1 MVP-25
1982 SFG NL 31 C 110 100 87 904.1 621 552 61 8 5 .987 6 8 6.10 5.57 .985 6.29 6.30 4 17 117 62 35% 32% 1
1983 TOT NL 32 C 60 52 40 461.0 349 308 35 6 5 .983 2 5 6.70 5.72 .984 6.57 6.54 1 6 55 25 31% 33% 1
1983 SFG NL 32 C 56 49 38 436.0 323 285 32 6 5 .981 2 6 6.54 5.66 .984 6.57 6.54 0 5 50 22 31% 33% 1
1983 PIT NL 32 C 4 3 2 25.0 26 23 3 0 0 1.000 0 0 9.36 6.50 .984 6.55 6.55 1 1 5 3 38% 33% 0
1984 PIT NL 33 C 26 22 14 190.0 151 135 15 1 2 .993 0 0 7.11 5.77 .986 6.53 6.51 0 5 20 7 26% 31% 0
14 Seasons C 1034 967 828 8539.2 5762 5091 589 82 73 .986 16 2 5.99 5.49 .985 6.07 6.06 62 262 724 407 36% 34% 12
15 Seasons TOT 1034 967 828 8539.2 5762 5091 589 82 73 .986 16 2 5.99 5.49 .985 6.07 6.06 62 262 724 407 36% 34% 12
Lg Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG PB WP SB CS CS% lgCS% PO Awards
Note: Fielding stats are a combination of official records and RetroSheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.
View Complete Notes on Fielding Data
Leagues historically made no effort to balance team, league, and player fielding stats. Since 1990 or so, computers have made this feasible, but prior to that there are hundreds or thousands of discrepancies each year in games played (even whether a player played a position), putouts, assists, double plays and errors.
  • Pre-1945 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
  • From 1945 on SB, CS, Pickoff, & WP data for catchers and pitchers is taken from play-by-play accounts in the retrosheet files. There are several hundred games without pbp from 1945 to 1973 and for those we may not have any data.
  • CG & GS come from the retrosheet data and should be complete and pretty accurate from 1916 on.
  • Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1945 to 1973 and complete from then on.
  • Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1916) is taken from play-by-play or box score data as available.
  • Stats (PO,A,G,etc) for C,P,1B,2B,3B,SS,OF positions is taken from the official reported totals and may have been corrected at various times since their publication.
  • For detailed information on which games retrosheet is missing play-by-play from 1945 to 1973, please see their most wanted games list
  • For detailed information on the availability of data on this site by year, see our data coverage page

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

MVP (yr lg (rk, shr))
1981 NL (25, 0%)
0.00 Career Shares (1736th)

Batting Average s c a p y
1981 NL  .310 (7th)

On-Base% s c a p y
1981 NL  .376 (8th)

Intentional Bases on Balls s c a p y
1981 NL  10 (4th)

Def. Games as C s c a p y
1981 NL  93 (3rd)

Putouts as C s c a p y
1981 NL  468 (3rd)

Assists as C s c a p y
1975 NL  70 (1st)
1977 AL  78 (3rd)
1981 NL  48 (5th)

Errors Committed as C s c a p y
1973 NL  12 (4th)
1975 NL  9 (5th)
1978 AL  10 (4th)

Double Plays Turned as C s c a p y
1974 NL  10 (5th)
1975 NL  8 (5th)
1977 AL  12 (1st)
1980 NL  12 (2nd)

Passed Balls s c a p y
1975 NL  18 (2nd)
1981 NL  4 (5th)

Stolen Bases Allowed as C s c a p y
1974 NL  70 (5th)
1975 NL  65 (5th)
1980 NL  91 (5th)
1981 NL  89 (1st)
1982 NL  117 (2nd)
Career  724 (77th)

Caught Stealing as C s c a p y
1974 NL  41 (5th)
1975 NL  47 (1st)
1982 NL  62 (2nd)
Career  407 (99th)

Total Zone Runs as C s c a p y
1971 NL  4 (5th)
1977 AL  5 (5th)
1982 NL  6 (5th)
Career  16 (71st)

Range Factor/9Inn as C† s c a p y
1975 NL  6.65 (2nd)

Range Factor/Game as C s c a p y
1975 NL  6.25 (3rd)
1981 NL  5.55 (5th)

Fielding % as C s c a p y
1974 NL  .993 (1st)
1980 NL  .986 (5th)
1981 NL  .989 (4th)
1982 NL  .987 (5th)

Youngest s c a p y
1970 NL  born 1950-08-01 (7th)

                                         

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Gray InkBatting - 4 (1863), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame StandardsBatting - 23 (585), Average HOFer ≈ 50
JAWS Catcher (110th), 14.8 career WAR/11.8 7yr-peak WAR/13.3 JAWS
Average HOF C (out of 14) = 49.3 career WAR/32.0 7yr-peak WAR/40.7 JAWS

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores
Similar Batters 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Sammy White (962)
  2. Birdie Tebbetts (944)
  3. John Flaherty (943)
  4. Ron Hassey (941)
  5. Bo Diaz (941)
  6. Yadier Molina (940)
  7. Phil Masi (940)
  8. Earl Battey (939)
  9. Brent Mayne (939)
  10. Cy Perkins (938)
Most Similar by Ages 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Rich Gedman (968)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Bruce Edwards (969)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Dioner Navarro (975)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Thurman Munson (966)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Ray Fosse (963)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Ray Fosse (968)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  7. Ray Fosse (967)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  8. Sammy White (973)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  9. Sammy White (968)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  10. Sammy White (970)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  11. Bob Boone (965)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  12. Bob Boone (967)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer

Transactions

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.

Salaries

 Salaries may not be complete (especially pre-1985) and may not include some earned bonuses
Year Age Team Salary Sources Notes/Other Sources
197726Detroit Tigers$50,000TSN salary survey, 4/23/77
198029San Francisco Giants$280,0001980 TSN Guide$230K salary, $250K bonus
198130San Francisco Giants$280,0001980 TSN Guide$230K salary, $250K bonus
198231San Francisco Giants$280,0001980 TSN Guide$230K salary, $250K bonus
198332San Francisco Giants$280,0001980 TSN Guide$230K salary, $250K bonus
198433Pittsburgh Pirates$280,0001980 TSN Guide$230K salary, $250K bonus
Career to date (may be incomplete)$1,450,000
Primary salary Data (about) courtesy Doug Pappas, and the Society for American Baseball Research.
Additional 1915-1969 salaries researched via Baseball Hall of Fame contract archives by Dr. Michael Haupert of UW-LaCrosse.
Salaries for mid-season call-ups or traded players may not be shown.
Salaries converted to alternate years using Consumer Price Index (CPI) data courtesty of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Board.

Other Resources & Links

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Viewed 17,884 times through February 12, 2013.
Name and misspellings: Milton Milt Scott May

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