Events in Sport
- May 3 106th Kentucky Derby: Jacinto Vasquez on Genuine Risk wins in 2:02
Event of Interest
May 3 Giants 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits his 521st & final HR
Willie McCovey
- May 3 Texas Ranger Ferguson Jenkins becomes 4th to win 100 games in AL & NL
- May 4 Dodgers bat out of order against Phillies in 1st inning
- May 4 White Sox 1st baseman Mike Squires catches final inning of 11-1 loss to Brewers, becoming 1st lefty to catch since Dale Long in 1958
- May 8 Sabres take only 15 shots, Islanders 22, in a playoff game
- May 12 West Ham United wins the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley Stadium; midfield playmaker Trevor Brooking scores winner with a rare header
- May 13 Cincinnati Red Ray Knight hits 2 HRs in 5th inning vs NY Mets
- May 14 Valencia of Spain wins 20th European Cup Winner's Cup against Arsenal of England 5-4 on penalties in Brussels
- May 14 Bucky Dent hits an inside park HR, Royals walk 14 Yanks including 5 with bases loaded, Yanks win 16-3
- May 15 Flyers score 8 goals against Islanders in playoffs
- May 16 34th NBA Championship: LA Lakers beat Philadelphia 76ers, 4 games to 2
Event of Interest
May 17 105th Preakness: Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr., aboard Codex wins his first of 2 Pimlico classics
Ángel Cordero Jr.
- May 24 Stanley Cup Final, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: In first Finals appearance, NY Islanders beat Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4 in OT for a 4 games to 2 series win
- May 25 Jacek Wszoka of Poland sets high jump record (7'8")
- May 25 Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford wins in 3:29:59.572 (229.914 km/h)
- May 26 Dietmar Mogenburg of West Germany ties high jump record at 7'8"
Event of Interest
May 26 Phillie Steve Carlton is 1st NLer to record 6, 1-hitters
Steve Carlton
Event of Interest
May 29 Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Birthdays in Sport
- May 1 Inês Henriques, Portuguese race walker (World C'ships gold 50k walk 2017), born in Santarém, Portugal
- May 2 Tim Borowski, German footballer, born in Neubrandenburg, East Germany
- May 2 Miloš Glogovac, Serbian football player, born in Serbia
- May 2 Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder, born in Boucherville, Quebec, Canada
- May 2 Zat Knight, English footballer, born in Solihull, England
- May 2 Troy Murphy, American basketball player, born in Morristown, New Jersey
- May 2 Brad Richards, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island, Canada
- May 4 Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey goalie, born in Belleville, Ontario
- May 5 Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer (Israel national team captain), born in Dimona, Israel
- May 5 DerMarr Johnson, American basketball player, born in Washington, D.C.
- May 6 Brooke Bennett, American swimmer (3 Olympic golds), born in Tampa, Florida
- May 6 Kasumi Takahashi, Australian rhythmic gymnast (Olympics 1996), born in Tokyo, Japan
- May 6 Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (Clube Atlético Mineiro), born in São Paulo, Brazil
- May 6 Mario Stojić, Croatian basketball player
- May 7 Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer
- May 9 Angela Nikodinov, Spartanburg SC, figure skater (1997 Pacif Sr champ)
- May 9 Tony Schmidt, German racing driver
- May 9 Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
- May 14 Eugene Martineau, Dutch decathlete
- May 14 Hugo Southwell, Scottish rugby union footballer
- May 14 Zdeněk Grygera, Czech footballer
- May 15 Josh Beckett, American baseball player
- May 16 Michael Ryan, American ice hockey player and coach (Springfield Thunderbirds), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- May 18 Jeff Roehl, American football player
- May 19 Tony Hackworth, English footballer
- May 20 Austin Kearns, American Baseball player
- May 22 Chad Tracy, American baseball player
- May 23 Sarah Louise Catherwood, 4x200m swimmer (Olympics 1996), born in Christchurch, New Zealand
- May 23 Theofanis Gekas, Greek footballer
- May 25 David Navarro, Spanish footballer, born in Sagunto, Spain
- May 27 Jessica Deglau, 200m butterfly (Olympics 1996), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
- May 28 Miguel Pérez, Spanish footballer
- May 30 Steven Gerrard, English footballer
Deaths in Sport
- May 2 Clarrie Grimmett, Australian cricket spin bowler (37 Tests; 216 wickets @ 24.21; ICC Cricket Hall of Fame), dies at 88