Former Le Moyne pitcher Tom Browning to be enshrined in Cincinatti Reds Hall of Fame

Three voted into Reds' Hall of Fame: Browning, Seaver and May are chosen for Cincinnati shrine

By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com

Three Cincinnati players from three different eras now share at least one common bond.

On Wednesday, former pitchers Tom Browning and Tom Seaver and first baseman Lee May became the three newest members of the Reds Hall of Fame.

"It's an honor to be in the Hall of Fame of the team I grew up loving," Browning said.

Allowed to pick up to three players on a 14-person ballot, fans selected Browning and Seaver during a December vote on Reds.com, the Cincinnati Enqurier, and on ballots picked up at the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum at Great American Ballpark. Over 11,000 votes were tabulated overall on 4,283 ballots. The veterans committee from the Cincinnati chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America selected May.

"I never thought I'd make it. I had given up on it," May told reporters. "I really appreciate it."

The left-handed Browning is best remembered for being part of the 1990 wire-to-wire World Series championship club and for throwing the only perfect game in Reds history, a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers, on Sept. 16, 1988, at Riverfront Stadium.

"For 1 hour and 52 minutes of my life, I was perfect," said the 45-year-old Browning, who posted a 123-88 lifetime record and 3.92 ERA in Cincinnati from 1984-94. He also won 20 games in 1985, his first full season in the Majors.

Browning, who lives in Northern Kentucky, is also part of the humor section of baseball lore. During a July 7, 1993, game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, he was spotted watching the game from a rooftop across the street -- still in his Reds uniform. The prank earned him a $500 fine.

"Just as many people ask me about sitting on the roof top during the game at Wrigley Field as the perfect game," he said.

Already a first-ballot Baseball Hall of Famer in Cooperstown, N.Y., the 61-year-old Seaver was 75-46 with a 3.18 ERA and posted 42 complete games for the Reds from 1977-82. In a blockbuster trade with the Mets on June 15, 1977, the right-hander came to Cincinnati in exchange for Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman.

One year and one day later, Seaver threw his only career no-hitter in a 4-0 win against St. Louis at Riverfront Stadium on June 16, 1978. He was an All-Star for the Reds in 1978 and 1981 and finished second in the 1981 Cy Young Award voting. In 23 starts during a strike-shortened '81 season, he led the National League in both victories (14-2) and winning percentage (.875) while posting a 2.54 ERA and six complete games.

A member of the club when the famed "Big Red Machine" nickname was coined, May was with Cincinnati for the first seven of his 18 Major League seasons. From 1965-71, he batted .274 with 147 home runs and 449 RBIs. One of his best years was 1971, when he hit 39 home runs and drove in 98 runs. In the 1970 World Series against Baltimore, he drove in eight runs in five games.

Unfortunately for May, he did not win any World Series rings with the Reds.

"We could hit," said May, who is now 62 years old and living in Columbia Township outside of Cincinnati. "We had a problem with pitching. We had pitchers nobody else wanted. We would score a lot of runs, but we couldn't hold them."

In one of the biggest deals in team history, May was traded to the Astros along with Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart for Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo, Denis Menke and future Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. That was on Nov. 29, 1971.

"That might have been the worst point of my life in baseball," May said. "I had never played with anybody but the Reds. We had gelled together and all of a sudden I got traded, kicked out of the house. It took a while to get over it."

Browning, Seaver and May will be officially inducted during pregame ceremonies on a date to be announced. Their addition gives the Reds Hall of Fame a membership of 66 players.

LE MOYNE NOTES: Browning went 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 111 innings from 1979-81. The Dolphins earned NCAA berths all three seasons and made trips to the World Series in 1979 and 1981.

Link to Le Moyne Players in the Professional Ranks