On this day in 1979 the Phillies released outfielder Dave May, ending his major league career.
May was originally signed by the Giants and made his major league debut as an Oriole, but he was traded to the Brewers in June of 1970 and had his best seasons there, batting .259/.322/.385 over 717 games, mostly in center field. May was an All Star in 1973 when he hit .303/.352/.473, leading the American League with 295 total bases and finishing eighth in the league's MVP voting.
Following the 1974 season May was traded to Atlanta as part of the deal that returned Hank Aaron to Milwaukee. He was a Brewer again briefly in his final major league season in 1978, appearing in 39 games. All told, over half of May's 1252 major league games over twelve seasons were played for Milwaukee.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to 1999-2001 Brewer Rocky Coppinger. He turns 39.