Milt May

Milton Scott May (born August 1, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from to for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and San Francisco Giants.

Major league career Milt May was selected as an infielder in the 11th round (237th overall) of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of St. Petersburg High School, Florida who then converted him into a catcher. He was a handler of pitchers and a left-handed line drive hitter who rarely swung at a bad pitch, but also was reputedly the slowest runner in the majors for much of his career.

At age 21, May was a member of the Pirates team that won the 1971 World Series. Tragedy struck the Pirates in late 1972, when outfielder Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash. May was slated to replace Clemente in the Pirates' lineup in 1973, with catcher Manny Sanguillén moving to right field. However the experiment ended by July when it was determined that Sanguillén could not adjust to playing in the outfield and May was back on the Pirates' bench.

May was traded from the Pirates to the Houston Astros for Jerry Reuss on October 31, 1973. He became the Astros starting catcher, replacing veteran Johnny Edwards. He led National League catchers with a .993 fielding percentage in 1974. May led all National League catchers in with 70 assists and 47 baserunners caught stealing. He played only six games in 1976 before a broken ankle sidelined him for the season. He recovered in 1977 to record 12 double plays and 0 passed balls. On June 13, 1980, during a 3–1 win over the New York Mets‚ May hit the 9000th home run in the history of the Giants franchise. John Montgomery Ward hit home run #1 in 1883‚ and the 8‚000th was hit by Bobby Bonds on September 4‚ 1971. In 1981, he batted .310 -which was the highest mark ever for a Giants catcher.

In August 1983, the Giants traded him back to the Pirates for catcher Steve Nicosia. He was major-league hitting coach for ten seasons in Pittsburgh (1987–96) and two with the Florida Marlins (1997–98). He is the brother of Merrill May. May was a shortstop at St. Petersburg High School. He lives in Bradenton, Florida, with his wife, Brenda. He has two children, Scott and Merrily, and six grandchildren.