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Rudy May, former Yankees star pitcher, dead at 80

Former New York Yankees pitcher and ERA champion Rudy May died on Saturday. He was 80.

May pitched 16 seasons in the big leagues, spending time with four different teams. He had two separate stints with the Yankees and spent seven seasons with the California Angels, two seasons with the Montreal Expos and two with the Baltimore Orioles. 

An obituary for May was seen in the Daily Advance in North Carolina.

Rudy May throws pitch

Rudy May, #45 of the New York, Yankees pitches during an Major League Baseball game circa 1981 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. May played for the Yankees from 1974 to 76 and 1980 to 83.  (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

Montreal Expos historian Danny Gallagher posted on X that Mays had told him years ago that he had been suffering from diabetes for a long time. 

Over his 16 seasons in Major League Baseball, May was 152-156 with a 3.46 ERA across 535 games, with 360 of those being starts. 

Mayplayed his first season with the Angels in 1965 as a 20-year-old and had a 3.92 ERA over 124 innings of work. However, due to injuries he suffered that season, he did not appear in the big leagues again until 1969. 

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Rudy May throws pitch

Rudy May, #43 of the Baltimore Orioles, pitches against the New York Yankees during an Major League Baseball game circa 1977 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. May played for the Orioles from 1976 to 77.  (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

May was with the Angels from 1969-1974, when he was traded in the middle of the season to the Yankees. 

His first stint with the Yankees began at the trade deadline in 1974 and ended in 1976, when he was traded to the Orioles at the deadline. After the 1977 season, May joined the Expos for two seasons before the Yankees brought him back for a second stint in 1980.

Rudy May throws pitch

Rudy May, #45 of the New York Yankees, pitches during a Major League Baseball game circa 1981 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. May played for the Yankees from 1974 to 76 and 1980 to 83.  (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

May had the best year of his career with the Yankees in 1980, winning the ERA title with a 2.46 ERA across 175.1 innings of work. He spent the rest of his career with the Yankees before retiring in 1983. 

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