A. Lee Maye. Outfielder with the Washington Senators in 1969-1970. 1,109 hits and 94 home runs in 13 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Milwaukee Braves in 1959-1965. His most productive season was 1965 with Milwaukee as he posted a .346 OBP with 96 runs scored and 74 RBIs in 627 plate appearances. He finished up with the Chicago White Sox in 1970-1970. He was also well known as a rhythm & blues singer.
Maye's SABR biography summarizes his entertainment side: While he focused on his baseball career, Arthur Lee Maye kept up with his singing as well. Maye began singing in the church choir, and a radio talent show appearance led to his initial recording session. This was while he was still in high school, and he was joined by friends Johnny Coleman and Richard Berry. Oddly enough, this trio was known as the “5” Hearts, and later as the Rams. Those three, plus Charles Colbert and Joe Moore, then formed a regular group known as Arthur Lee Maye and the Crowns. Maye, a tenor, was the lead singer. They recorded several singles for the RPM label, having local hits like “Truly”, but never broke out as a national act. They were hurt by the fact that Maye could only work with the group during the offseason.
A move to the Specialty label in 1955 didn’t help, so in 1957, Maye broke for a while with the Crowns and joined a group organized by rhythm and blues impresario Johnny Otis known as the Jayos. With the Jayos, Maye recorded his only album. Instead of performing his own material as he did with the Crowns, this album was made up of versions of songs that had been hits for other artists. He was also still working with the Crowns, recording on small labels such as Flip, Cash, and Dig. Lee’s brother Eugene joined the group in its latter days, but due to lack of success and Maye’s erratic schedule, the Crowns broke up.
Maye continued recording singles as a solo act, occasionally signing with big labels such as Columbia and ABC-Paramount. He was sometimes billed on record as “Lee Maye of the Milwaukee Braves” to take advantage of his new renown. During baseball seasons, he would sometimes perform in nightclubs. After his playing career, he sang lead with a group called the Country Boys and City Girls and made a few more solo recordings. He continued working in music right to the end of his life, having booked a European tour before being felled by cancer.
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