Events in Sport
Sports History
May 1 74th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro wins aboard Citation to become first 4-time Derby winning jockey
- May 15 73rd Preakness: Eddie Arcaro wins aboard Citation, 2nd leg of successful Triple Crown
- May 16 First chess world championship since WWII; Russian player Mikhail Botvinnik wins a 5-player tournament to begin 20-year Russian domination
- May 20 Cleveland Indians tie AL record of 18 walks (beat Red Sox 13-4)
Sports History
May 21 NY Yank Joe DiMaggio hits for cycle (single, double, triple, HR)
- May 23 Future Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Joe DiMaggio hits 3 consecutive HRs as the New York Yankees edge the Indians, 6-5 at Cleveland Stadium
PGA Championship
May 25 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Norwood Hills CC: Ben Hogan scores a convincing 7 & 6 win over Mike Turnesa in the Tuesday final for his 2nd PGA crown
Sports History
May 27 Hank Greenberg buys an interest in the Cleveland Indians
- May 29 French Championships Men's Tennis: Frank Parker wins 1st of 2 straight French titles; beats Jaroslav Drobný 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 8-6
- May 29 French Championships Women's Tennis: Belgium-born but representing France, Nelly Landry beats American Shirley Fry 6-2, 0-6, 6-0 for her lone major title
Baseball Record
May 30 Schenectady Blue Jays Tommy Lasorda strikes out 25 in 15-inning game
- May 31 Tommy Lasorda strikes out 25 Amsterdam Rugmakers (in 15 innings)
- May 31 Indianapolis 500: For the second straight year, Blue Crown Spark Plug teammates Mauri Rose and Bill Holland finish 1st-2nd; Rose the second driver to win the 500 in consecutive years
Birthdays in Sport
- May 3 Peter Oosterhuis, British golfer (British Open 1974, 82 runner-up; Ryder Cup x 6), born in London, England
- May 4 Billy O'Donnell, Canadian harness racer driver of year (1984), born in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada
- May 4 Hurley Haywood, American auto racer (24 Hours of Le Mans 1977, 83, 94; 24 Hours of Daytona 1973, 75, 77, 79, 91), born in Chicago, Illinois
- May 9 John Mahaffey, American golfer (PGA Championship 1978; 10 PGA Tour titles), born in Kerrville, Texas
- May 9 Calvin Murphy, American basketball player
- May 11 Alfred Matt, Austrian slalom (Olympic bronze 1968)
- May 13 Guillermo Echevarría, Mexican swimmer (1,500m WR 16:28.1 1968), born in Mexico City, Mexico (d. 2021)
- May 14 Dave LaRoche, baseball pitcher (NY Yankees)
- May 14 Bob Woolmer, English cricket all-rounder, coach (19 Tests, coach Pakistan, South Africa), born in Kanpur, India (d. 2007)
- May 19 Boet van Dulmen, Dutch motorcycle racer (84 starts, 1 win, 4 podiums,1 pole; Finnish 500cc GP 1979), born in Ammerzoden, Netherlands (d. 2021)
- May 20 Aleksandr Timoshinin, Russian rower (Olympic gold Soviet Union double sculls 1968, 72), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 2021)
- May 23 Ernesto Marcel, Panamanian boxer (WBA featherweight title 1972-74), born in Colón, Panama (d. 2020)
- May 26 Geoff Greenidge, West Indian cricket batsman (5 Tests; last white player to play for WI), born in St Michael, Barbados
- May 26 Ken Clark, Canadian football punter (CFL All Star 1977, 80, 82, 85; Hamilton Tiger-Cats; Saskatchewan Roughriders; Ottawa Rough Riders; NFL: LA Rams), born in Southampton, England (d. 2021)
- May 28 Bob Shearer, Australian golfer, course designer (4 x PGA Tour of Australia Order of Merit), born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 2022)