Ben May (umpire)


Benjamin Joseph May is an umpire in Major League Baseball. He has worked in MLB since 2014, and wears number 97 on his uniform. Per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May has received criticism from managers and sports writers due to questionable calls.

Career

May umpired his first MLB games on April 14, 2014, working both games in a doubleheader between the Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins. 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 10 performing home plate umpire in terms of accuracy in calling balls and strikes. His error rate was 97.9 percent. This was based on a study conducted at Boston University where 372,442 pitches were culled and analyzed.

Notable games

May was an umpire for the 2011 All-Star Futures Game, and qualifying rounds of the 2013 World Baseball Classic.