Lee May's first at-bat with the Orioles still sticks with Jim Palmer. On Opening Day, 1975, Palmer warmed up in near-freezing weather in Detroit as May stepped to the plate in the first inning.
Bang. The Orioles' new first baseman hit a three-run home run at Tiger Stadium. Palmer watched the rocket go and settled in to pitch a 10-0 victory.
"It got a lot warmer when 'Mo' hit that ball into the upper deck," he said. “I wouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame if we hadn’t had players like that.”
May, who played six years in Baltimore and helped the Orioles reach the 1979 World Series, died Saturday of heart disease in a hospital near his home in Cincinnati.