Lee Maye

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

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

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.

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

At this time he also started his professional recording career.

He joined Richard Berry and recorded "The Fine One" b/w "Please Please Baby" as the "5" Hearts on the Flair label (the company put the "5" in quotes as only three sang on the record).

They next released "Sweet Thing b/w "Rock Bottom" under the name "Rams." Maye also sang the "di-di-di's" behind Richard Berry on the original "Louie Louie."

Maye played for the Braves minor league teams in Boise, Eau Claire, Yakima, Evansville, Jacksonville, Wichita, Austin, and Louisville.

He also formed the musical group The Crowns.

The Crowns had back to back LA area hits on the Modern label with "Truly" and "Love Me Always."

On the Specialty label in 1956, they sang their best known record, "Gloria."

They also had an important 1956 record on the DIG label titled "This is the Night for Love."

Maye said of his cross country stops, "I'd watch all of them, any entertainer when I was in a town. You learn from each other. My stage presence wasn't polished, so I'd go to learn how to get my stage presence from the other top guys who did it for a living".

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).

Maye was also well known as a rhythm & blues singer.

In 1959 he batted .339 with 17 home runs for the Braves top Louisville farm team and broke into the Major Leagues.

Maye hit over .300 in his first two seasons of Major League Baseball.

From 1961 to 1966, and again in 1969, he started in more than half of his team's games, with a high of 133 games started in 1964.

Maye was also used quite often as a pinch-hitter during his 13-season career.

A back injury and respiratory illness slowed his progress in 1961 and 1962.

In 1964, playing for the Milwaukee Braves, Maye had personal career-highs in almost every category; including 153 games played, 74 RBI, and a .304 batting average.

He also led the National League with 44 doubles.

Other career highlights include:

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

Maye sang in a tenor and falsetto.

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

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.

Maye told Milstein, "I am the best singing athlete that ever lived. I am not bragging. It's just a fact."

Arthur Lee Maye's dual career began at Los Angeles' Jefferson High School.

Here he sang with Jesse Belvin and future members of the Platters, the Penguins, and the Coasters.

Maye starred in baseball for both Jefferson High and local semi-pro teams.

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.

Moore convinced the Braves to draft and sign him.

Arthur Lee Maye later explained, "Baseball was my first love. I could always sing at fifty, but I couldn’t play baseball at fifty."

In 1964, Maye hit .304, scored 96 runs, drove in 74 runs, and led the National League in doubles with 44; meanwhile, his solo album Halfway Out of Love sold over 500,000 copies.

A 1965 ankle injury hurt his season and career.

He was traded to the Houston Astros during the 1965 season.

Playing his 1966 home games in the Astrodome, he hit .288 with 9 home runs.

Huey Meax managed his music career during this time.

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