Events in Sport
- May 1 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA CPC International Golf Tournament
- May 3 NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Edmonton Oilers beat Chicago Black Hawks, 4 games to 0
- May 7 109th Kentucky Derby: Ed Delahoussaye on Sunny's Halo wins in 2:02.2
- May 7 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: New York Islanders beat Boston Bruins, 4 games to 2
- May 8 Janet Coles wins LPGA Lady Michelob Golf Tournament
- May 11 Aberdeen of Scotland win 23rd European Cup Winner's Cup against Real Madrid of Spain 2-1 in Gothenburg
Event of Interest
May 13 Reggie Jackson is 1st major leaguer to strike out 2,000 times
Reggie Jackson
Boxing Title Fight
May 20 Larry Holmes beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
Larry Holmes
Boxing Title Fight
May 20 Michael Dokes & Mike Weaver fight to a draw in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
Mike Weaver
Golf Tournament
May 22 Pat Bradley wins LPGA Chrysler-Plymouth Charity Golf Tournament
Pat Bradley
- May 22 Toronto Blue Jay Cliff Johnson hits record 18th pinch hit HR
- May 25 Kirk Gibson (Tigers) & Jorge Orta (Blue Jays) hit inside park HRs
- May 25 27th European Cup: Hamburg beats Juventus 1-0 at Athens
- May 26 29th Walker Cup: US, 13½ - 10½
- May 26 LA Lakers set NBA playoff game record of fewest free throws
Golf Tournament
May 29 Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Corning Golf Classic
Patty Sheehan
Event of Interest
May 30 AL President Lee MacPhail suspends Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for one week, for his public criticism of umpires
George Steinbrenner
- May 31 37th NBA Championship: Philadelphia 76ers sweep LA Lakers in 4 games
Birthdays in Sport
- May 1 Alain Bernard, French swimmer (100m freestyle gold 2008 Olympics), born in Aubagne, France
- May 3 Joseph Addai, American football player, born in Houston, Texas
- May 3 Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer, born in Paramaribo, Suriname
- May 3 Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer and goalkeeper, born in Budapest (d. 2015)
- May 4 Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Rockland, Ontario
- May 6 Dani Alves da Silva, Brazilian football player (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil national team), born in Juazeiro, Brazil
- May 9 Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player
- May 9 Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
- May 11 Frédéric Xhonneux, Belgian decathlete
- May 11 Matt Leinart, American football player
- May 12 Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
- May 13 Yaya Touré, Ivorian footballer
- May 16 Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- May 17 Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
- May 17 Channing Frye, American basketball player
- May 17 Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
- May 18 Gary O'Neil, English footballer
- May 18 Luis Terrero, Dominican baseball player
- May 18 Vince Young, American football player
- May 22 John Hopkins, Anglo-American motorcycling racer
- May 27 Bobby Convey, American soccer player
- May 28 Steve Cronin, American soccer goalkeeper
- May 28 Humberto Sanchez, Dominican baseball player
- May 31 Dustin Wells, New Zealand footballer
Deaths in Sport
Jack Dempsey
May 31 Jack Dempsey, former heavyweight boxing champ/actor, dies at 86
Jack Dempsey