Benjamin Joseph May (born January 23, 1982) is an
umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB). He has worked in MLB since 2014, and wears number 97 on his uniform.
Career
May umpired his first MLB games on April 14, 2014, working both games in a
doubleheader between the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
and
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
.
He worked a total of 187 games during his first three MLB seasons, and issued five ejections. For the 2018 regular season he was found to be a top-ten performing home plate umpire in terms of accuracy in calling balls and strikes, based on a study conducted at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
where over 350,000 pitches were culled and analyzed.
May was an umpire for the 2011
All-Star Futures Game
The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...
, and qualifying rounds of the
2013 World Baseball Classic
The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009.
Unlike ...
.
[
May was featured on the cover of the ''Virtual Umpire Camp'' DVD.
]
See also
* List of Major League Baseball umpires
The following is a list of major league baseball umpires. The list includes umpires who worked in any of four 19th century major leagues (American Association, National Association, Players' League, Union Association), one defunct 20th century m ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
RetrosheetClose Call Sports
1982 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin
Major League Baseball umpires
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