no. 493 - dave may

Who is the man: Dave May was coming off his first full season in the majors when this card was issued. He was traded from the Orioles to the Brewers in June of 1970 and played in 100 games for Milwaukee.

Can ya dig it: This is a rather vibrant photo. I don't know if it's the reproduction of this card or if they're all like this. Sharp.

Right on: Good for Topps getting May in a Brewers uniform instead of him in some blacked-out Orioles cap.

You see that cat May is a bad mother: May is forever the trivia question, "who did the Braves get when they traded Hank Aaron?" That's pretty bad-ass. It's even on the back of his card.

Shut your mouth: When May was playing for the Rangers in 1977, he batted in a game in September against the Angels' Nolan Ryan. He swung at a Ryan pitch and lost a contact lens. While he and others looked for the lens, Ryan said, "Oh, just forget about it, you're going to strike out anyway." May asked the bat boy to get his glasses. He then drilled a Ryan pitch down the line for a double, scoring the decisive third run in a 3-2 victory. From second base, May hollered to Ryan, "Is that a strikeout?"

No one understands him but his woman: Orioles teammate Bobby Grich once called May "the greatest batting practice hitter ever."

(A word about the back): I know the Orioles were pretty good in 1969, but mentioning that someone was a team's "No. 1 lefty pinch-hitter" sounds like damning with faint praise.