Carlos May--1975
In an oddity of baseball, Carlos May
stands alone as being the only player to
ever wear his birth date on the back of
his uniform.
The younger brother of slugging first
baseman Lee May of the Astros and
Reds; Carlos was born on May 17, 1948.
As you can kinda see, Carlos wore
number 17 and on some years the White
Sox had the players' last name on the
back of their uniform. Thus during those
seasons, Carlos would have his birth
date, "May 17", on the back of his jersey.
A two-time All-Star, May swung an
average bat with some pop, while
bringing speed and versatility to a lineup.
He would play ten seasons in the bigs,
hitting .274 with 90 long balls in 1165
games primarily with the White Sox,
though he garnered time with the
Yankees and Angels as he finished his
career. All that was incredible
considering he lost part of his right
thumb during drills while serving duty in
the Marine Reserves.
Here is an article from Baseball Digest,
where May talks about the incident that
almost short-circuited his career.
Carlos May Article, Baseball Digest, Dec.
1969
Editor's Note: Happy (belated) Birthday
to Carlos May!
