Rudy May, Former Yankees Pitcher, Dies at 80

Rudy May, a left-handed pitcher who spent 16 major-league seasons including two stints with the New York Yankees, died on Oct. 19 at age 80, the Yankees announced, and an online death notice listed Hertford, North Carolina. May transformed his game after an early left-shoulder ligament injury, developing pinpoint control and a curveball — aided in part by Whitey Ford — and finished his career with 152 wins, a 3.46 ERA and 1,760 strikeouts. He found notable success in New York, going 8–4 with a 2.28 ERA after joining the Yankees in 1974 and later leading the American League in ERA in 1980. His time in pinstripes was complicated by a strained relationship with manager Billy Martin. Other items in the reporting batch were boilerplate or unrelated and did not add further information about May.