#246 Lee Maye

Lee Maye  Milwaukee Braves (and The Crowns)

Career(s):  Lee Maye played pro baseball for 18 seasons, 13 in the majors with the Braves, Astros, Senators, White Sox, and Indians. He was never an All-Star, missed out on post-season play, and is relatively unknown despite a career .274 average and nearly a hundred homers.

After his minor league climb, he played for the Braves from 1959 thru early in the 1965 season. In 1964 his 44 doubles (twice his next best total) led the NL. That year his .304 average was good for 12th in the NL, just a few points outside the Top Ten.

He was traded to the Astros early in the 1965 season and later toured the AL before finishing with more minor-league duty and a 1972 retirement.

Running parallel to his baseball career was a music career that saw Maye make doo-wop records for several labels beginning in the mid-50s. He'd been singing since his days at Jefferson High in South Central L.A. The bulk of his music came from his time as lead singer for The Crowns. He signed his first professional contract at 19. Much more about his musical career can be found below.

Lee Maye died at 67 in 2002. Certainly a life well-lived.

In 1960: Maye was with the Braves to start the season but played sparingly through early May when he was sent to AAA Louisville. There he played well, was back in the bigs in July, and was handed an everyday spot in the Braves' outfield. He responded by hitting .301 in nearly a hundred at-bats.

Off The Charts (literally): This was one of the most fun posts I've had the pleasure to research. This is his 'rookie' card so I didn't get to dive down the rabbit hole of his music for my other set blogs. There are so many neat little items about his life that I think I'll just post some links here and let you explore if you wish.

Highly recommended is this page that has extensive photos, playlists of Maye's music, interview excerpts, and more.

Another extensive interview and background site is here. Bunches of photos, a complete(?) discography, and much more.

If you do Spotify, here is a Maye playlist.

Marv Goldberg's Rock and Roll Notebook is another fun site with a lot of stuff on Maye and his music.

This Astros Daily interview focuses on his baseball career and shows him to have been very outspoken in many ways. It's a good one.

The Card: The cartoon references his singing career. His '61, '63, '65, and '68 Topps cards also had cartoons that mentioned his 'side job'. This oldies/pop-oriented site has a great bio that focuses on his dual career and shows some of the cartoons.

The card itself is pretty cool. The blue/orange/red/white/black combo isn't unique but it is one of only six found in the 1960 set. And the Braves' sweet unis make it even more colorful. Add in that super cartoon and you have a great baseball card.

Here are a few music videos of The Crowns from YouTube:

#2 Roman Mejias

Roman Mejias Pittsburgh Pirates

Career: Mejias played in nine major league seasons after debuting with the Pirates in 1955. He was an original member of the 1962 Houston Colt 45s and had his best season that year. He hit 24 homers which is almost half his career total. He finished his career with the Red Sox in 1963/64 and then played a season in Japan. Happy Birthday to him as well. He turned 89 this week.

In 1960: He spent the bulk of the year in the minors and got only one big league at bat. With AAA Columbus he hit .278 and showed some power. Side note: He had only one at-bat with the Pirates in 1961 as well and had almost identical minor league stats.

WikiFacts: From his Wikipedia page:

On October 10, 1961, he was selected in the 11th round by Houston in the 1961 National League expansion draft, and was the starting right fielder in the Colt .45s' first Major League game on April 10, 1962. Batting third in Houston's lineup, Mejías had three hits in five at bats, with three runs scored and six runs batted in. He hit the first home run in Houston's Major League history, a three-run bomb off Don Cardwell in the third inning, and then followed with another three-run shot in the eighth off relief pitcher Al Lary, as the Colt .45s routed the visiting Chicago Cubs, 11–2. Mejías held the Colts' starting right fielder job all season, appearing in a career-high 146 games, and led Houston in hits (162), home runs (24), runs batted in (76), batting average (.286), stolen bases (12) and slugging percentage (.485).

And here's a snippet from a great SABR article on Mejias and his 1954 minor league team, the Waco Pirates. It is recommended reading.

Mejias in particular intrigued the parent Pirates. Born in Central Manuelita on August 9, 1930, he progressed to his third year of high school before going to work at his father’s side at 15 years old. Full of natural ability, he excelled in the Pedro Betancourt Amateur Baseball League in Cuba, and was later signed by Hall of Famer George Sisler who was scouting talent in the area. Mejias showed the propensity for hitting for average and power, had good speed on the basepaths, and played his outfield position ably, all tools which would serve him well on his climb to the big leagues

The Card: Topps liked to refer to the Pirates as the Corsairs. Every time I see that I think of this, one of my favorite doo-wop songs from back when it was my favorite music genre.