Lee Maye

Arthur Lee Maye (December 11, 1934 – July 17, 2002) was an American Major League Baseball player.

He played eleven seasons in the majors as an outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves (1959–1965), Houston Astros (1965–1966), Cleveland Indians (1967–1969), Washington Senators (1969–1970), and Chicago White Sox (1970–1971).

He was the lead singer of the Los Angeles–based doo-wop group Arthur Lee Maye and the Crowns in the 1950s.

[5] Maye's dual career began at Los Angeles' Jefferson High School.

[6] He also sang in the school hallways with Jesse Belvin and future members of the Platters, the Penguins, and the Coasters.

Milwaukee Braves scout Johnny Moore not only saw his potential as a hitter with line drive power but clocked him in the 100-yard dash at under 10-seconds.

"[8] He began his professional baseball career in 1954 with a Milwaukee Braves Pioneer League farm team in Boise, Idaho.

[3] In a 13-year Major League Baseball career Maye played for the Milwaukee Braves, Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, and the Chicago White Sox.

[1] May won the starting left field position in 1961, but injured his shoulder on opening day and missed over a month of play.

[7] He still appeared in 110 games that year, hitting .271 in 373 at bats, with 14 home runs (his career high).

[1] He and future hall of fame teammate Eddie Mathews[10] each hit home runs in every game of a three-game regular season series, which has only happened twice in team history.

[15]) After the 1964 season, Maye, along with Hank Aaron, expressed concern about the team's moving from Milwaukee to Atlanta for fear of racial discrimination.

To his surprise, after appearing in only 15 games for the Braves, on May 23, he was traded to the Houston Astros for Ken Johnson and Jim Beauchamp.

Meaux got him studio time with JAMIE and regular bookings at popular Houston nightclubs.

[1] All, or most, of his MLB career was during baseball's second deadball era,[21][citation needed] with the major league scoring draught running from 1963-72.

"[23] Maye's career totals include 1,288 games played, 1,109 hits, 94 home runs, 419 RBI, and a lifetime batting average of .274.

Music journalist and critic Phil Milstein called his singing "deft" and "authoritative".

[8] Maye recorded on over a dozen labels to include Modern, Tower, Specialty, ABC-Paramount, and Buddah, and opened a Hollywood Bowl show featuring Jerry Butler, Billy Stewart, and Barbara Mason.

"When you're playing baseball and singing it's a very tough career for both of those, because you have to be at both places at the same time of the year, and you can't do that".

[8] Lee Maye tried for ten years after his playing career to find a job in organized baseball.

"[28] "Moonlight" made several compilation CDs, played a role in the novel '64 Intruder, and gets airplay on doo-wop radio programs.