What years did Rudy May play?

Rudy May played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1983.

Was Rudy May a pitcher?

Yes. Rudy May pitched in the major leagues, recording 152 wins and 1760 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Rudy May hit?

Rudy May hit 0 career home runs with 42 hits.

What teams did Rudy May play for?

Rudy May played for 4 teams: the California Angels (1965, 1969–1974), the New York Yankees (1974–1976, 1980–1983), the Baltimore Orioles (1976–1977), and the Montreal Expos (1978–1979).

What were Rudy May's career stats?

In 535 games, Rudy May went 152-156 with a 3.46 ERA, 1,760 strikeouts, 2,622.0 innings pitched, and 12 saves. At the plate he had 42 hits and 0 home runs.

What position did Rudy May play?

Rudy May played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Rudy May and how much did he weigh?

Rudy May was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 205 pounds.

What was Rudy May's career ERA?

Rudy May finished with a 3.46 career ERA, going 152-156 with 1,760 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Rudy May have?

Rudy May recorded 1,760 career strikeouts.

Is Rudy May in the Hall of Fame?

No. Rudy May has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rudy May

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1965-1983)

Rudy May was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1983 for 4 teams, including the California Angels, a span of 19 seasons. Across 535 career appearances, he went 152-156 with a 3.46 ERA and 1,760 strikeouts. He also batted .123 with 0 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 20165.7.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 152–156

ERA 3.46

WHIP 1.25

SO 1,760

Pitcher PIV 20165.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 205 lb
Born: 7/18/1944 in Coffeyville, KS, USA
Died: 10/19/2024 in Hertford, NC, USA
MLB Debut: 1965-04-18
Last Game: 1983-09-21

Full name: Rudolph May

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Career Pitching Statistics

Rudy May — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
152	156	535	360	87	24	12	2622.0	2,314	1,007	199	958	1,760	3.46	20165.7

Career ERA 3.46 vs. league average 3.71 across their career seasons — 6.8% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rudy May Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1965	CAL	AL	4	9	30	19	2	1	0	124.0	111	54	78	76	3.92	3.50 (-12%)	-1582.0
1969	CAL	AL	10	13	43	25	4	0	2	180.1	142	69	66	133	3.44	3.61 (+5%)	-46.7
1970	CAL	AL	7	13	38	34	2	2	0	208.2	190	93	81	164	4.01	3.89 (-3%)	1989.5
1971	CAL	AL	11	12	32	31	7	2	0	208.1	160	70	87	156	3.02	3.47 (+13%)	2633.1
1972	CAL	AL	12	11	35	30	10	3	1	205.1	162	67	82	169	2.94	3.26 (+10%)	1944.1
1973	CAL	AL	7	17	34	28	10	4	0	185.0	177	90	80	134	4.38	3.75 (-17%)	-565.9
1974	CAL	AL	0	1	18	3	0	0	2	27.0	29	21	10	12	7.00	3.63 (-93%)	-166.9
1974	NYA	AL	8	4	17	15	8	2	0	114.1	75	29	48	90	2.28	3.63 (+37%)	2020.1
1975	NYA	AL	14	12	32	31	13	1	0	212.0	179	72	99	145	3.06	3.71 (+18%)	2823.1
1976	NYA	AL	4	3	11	11	2	1	0	68.0	49	27	28	38	3.57	3.51 (-2%)	-401.3
1976	BAL	AL	11	7	24	21	5	1	0	152.1	156	64	42	71	3.78	3.51 (-8%)	188.1
1977	BAL	AL	18	14	37	37	11	4	0	251.2	243	101	78	105	3.61	4.00 (+10%)	-1169.5
1978	MON	NL	8	10	27	23	4	1	0	144.0	141	62	42	87	3.88	3.69 (-5%)	-157.3
1979	MON	NL	10	3	33	7	2	1	0	93.2	88	24	31	67	2.31	4.00 (+42%)	2444.8
1980	NYA	AL	15	5	41	17	3	1	3	175.1	144	48	39	133	2.46	3.84 (+36%)	4092.9
1981	NYA	AL	6	11	27	22	4	0	1	147.2	137	68	41	79	4.14	3.58 (-16%)	1138.5
1982	NYA	AL	6	6	41	6	0	0	3	106.0	109	34	14	85	2.89	3.86 (+25%)	4968.9
1983	NYA	AL	1	5	15	0	0	0	0	18.1	22	14	12	16	6.87	3.87 (-77%)	12.2
Career · 18 seasons			152	156	535	360	87	24	12	2,622.0	2,314	1,007	958	1,760	3.46	—	20,166

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Rudy May — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
536	341	12	42	9	0	0	14	0	22	164	.123	.180	.150	.330	-2,228

Career AVG .123 vs. league average .256 across their career seasons — 52.0% below league average.

Career OBP .180 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 44.1% below league average.

Career SLG .150 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — 60.5% below league average.

Career OPS .330 vs. league average .701 across their career seasons — 52.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rudy May Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1965	CAL	AL	30	30	2	6	3	1	4	15	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1969	CAL	AL	44	49	1	4	0	0	4	22	.082	—	—	—	—	-493.3
1970	CAL	AL	38	69	0	6	2	2	4	31	.087	.253 (-66%)	.325 (-59%)	.385 (-70%)	.711 (-65%)	-720.1
1971	CAL	AL	32	68	2	10	1	4	4	40	.147	.249 (-41%)	.316 (-39%)	.365 (-56%)	.682 (-48%)	-488.4
1972	CAL	AL	35	62	3	7	1	1	3	29	.113	.243 (-54%)	.310 (-50%)	.353 (-64%)	.664 (-57%)	-526.2
1973	CAL	AL	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	CAL	AL	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	NYA	AL	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	NYA	AL	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	NYA	AL	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	BAL	AL	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	BAL	AL	37	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	MON	NL	27	42	2	6	2	3	3	19	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	MON	NL	33	21	2	3	0	3	0	8	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	NYA	AL	41	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	NYA	AL	27	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	NYA	AL	41	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	NYA	AL	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 18 seasons			536	341	12	42	9	14	22	164	.123	—	—	—	—	-2,228

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Rudy May — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Rudy May — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	AVG
1981	AEDIV	NYA	1	0	.000
1981	ALCS	NYA	1	0	.000
1981	WS	NYA	3	1	.000
1980	ALCS	NYA	1	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Rudy May — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	6	2	0	19.2	18	8	4	15	3.66

Playoff Pitching by Year

Rudy May — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1981	AEDIV	NYA	0	1	0	2.0	1	0	0	1	0.00
1981	ALCS	NYA	0	1	1	3.1	6	3	0	5	8.10
1981	WS	NYA	0	3	0	6.1	5	2	1	5	2.84
1980	ALCS	NYA	1	1	1	8.0	6	3	3	4	3.38

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1071 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Rudy May — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	270	177	5	18	0	4	.102
Away	266	164	7	24	0	10	.146

Pitching — Home / Away

Rudy May — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	269	1381.1	1184	525	468	954	3.42
Away	266	1240.2	1130	482	490	806	3.50

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Rudy May — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1983-09-21	NYY	BOS	—	0.0	0	0	0	1	0	0
1983-09-18	NYY	CLE	—	1.0	3	2	2	0	1	0
1983-09-10	NYY	BAL	L	0.1	1	2	1	1	0	0
1983-09-08	NYY	MIL	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0
1983-06-13	NYY	CLE	—	1.2	1	0	0	0	1	0
1983-06-12	NYY	MIL	L	0.2	2	1	1	2	0	0
1983-06-08	NYY	CLE	—	0.2	2	1	1	0	0	0
1983-06-02	NYY	LAA	L	0.1	2	2	2	1	1	1
1983-05-29	NYY	OAK	W	4.1	3	0	0	0	5	0
1983-05-24	NYY	LAA	L	0.2	2	2	2	1	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rudy May — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	535	360	87	382	37	18

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rudy May — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1965	CAL	P	30	19	4	15	0	0
1969	CAL	P	43	25	6	26	6	3
1970	CAL	P	38	34	5	33	3	1
1971	CAL	P	32	31	7	31	4	3
1972	CAL	P	35	30	2	24	5	2
1973	CAL	P	34	28	2	39	1	0
1974	CAL	P	18	3	0	11	0	0
1974	NYA	P	17	15	4	8	0	0
1975	NYA	P	32	31	9	25	2	0
1976	NYA	P	11	11	4	10	1	1
1976	BAL	P	24	21	9	21	4	2
1977	BAL	P	37	37	6	33	4	1
1978	MON	P	27	23	5	15	3	2
1979	MON	P	33	7	6	15	0	0
1980	NYA	P	41	17	5	26	2	2
1981	NYA	P	27	22	11	28	1	0
1982	NYA	P	41	6	2	19	1	1
1983	NYA	P	15	0	0	3	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rudy May Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	535

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Rudy May (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Rudy May: the record in brief

Between the debut on April 18, 1965 and the final game on September 21, 1983, Rudy May built the record summarized on this page. The season rows list, in order, the California Angels (1965 through 1974), the New York Yankees (1974 to 1983), the Baltimore Orioles (1976 to 1977), and the Montreal Expos (1978 through 1979). May played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. Born on July 18, 1944, in Coffeyville, KS, USA, May was listed at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds. May's death is recorded on October 19, 2024, in Hertford, NC, USA. The given name on file is Rudolph May.

May's career pitching line is 152 wins, 156 losses and a 3.46 ERA over 535 appearances. Also on May's record: 1,760 strikeouts, 87 complete games, 24 shutouts, and 12 saves. That 3.46 ERA compares with a 3.71 league average across the same seasons, 6.8% better. No season topped the 18 wins of 1977. 1972 produced May's most strikeouts, 169.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rudy May

What years did Rudy May play?: Rudy May played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1983.
Was Rudy May a pitcher?: Yes. Rudy May pitched in the major leagues, recording 152 wins and 1760 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Rudy May hit?: Rudy May hit 0 career home runs with 42 hits.
What teams did Rudy May play for?: Rudy May played for 4 teams: the California Angels (1965, 1969–1974), the New York Yankees (1974–1976, 1980–1983), the Baltimore Orioles (1976–1977), and the Montreal Expos (1978–1979).
What were Rudy May's career stats?: In 535 games, Rudy May went 152-156 with a 3.46 ERA, 1,760 strikeouts, 2,622.0 innings pitched, and 12 saves. At the plate he had 42 hits and 0 home runs.
What position did Rudy May play?: Rudy May played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Rudy May and how much did he weigh?: Rudy May was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 205 pounds.
What was Rudy May's career ERA?: Rudy May finished with a 3.46 career ERA, going 152-156 with 1,760 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Rudy May have?: Rudy May recorded 1,760 career strikeouts.
Is Rudy May in the Hall of Fame?: No. Rudy May has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.