The Twins Biggest Celebrity Might Just Be Trevor May

If you Google the Minnesota reliever, the first thing that pops up is a link to his Twitter feed and then it’s his Wikipedia page. There’s a set of questions that starts with “Is Trevor May good at baseball?” and then is quickly followed by “Is Trevor May good at Fortnite?” It isn’t until after those entries that his MLB.com bio makes an appearance.

This isn’t some sort of coincidence. The popularity of eSports is into the stratosphere, and May is synonymous with the biggest names in the community. He wore the “IamTrevorMay” moniker on the back of his Player’s Weekend jersey, and it’s certainly his outlet when not at work. I caught up with the Twins fireballer (who did hit 100 mph last season) to talk all things not related to baseball.

Twins Daily: Obviously athletes have hobbies off the field, but how did it become gaming for you?

Trevor May: I’ve always been a gamer from when I was really young. There were some great games that came out when I had a lot of down time from injuries, so here we are. (Note: May was traded to the Twins prior to the 2013 season. He pitched just 46 innings in 2016 and missed all of the 2017 season rehabbing.)

TD: Specifically, what about Fortnite drew you in?

TM: All of my friends played it AND I love that it was something completely new to learn and master. Then, factor in that creating content around the game was always fresh and fun; I just couldn’t get enough.

TD: Was the goal always to create a brand and generate a business of sorts, or what was your initial goal when hopping on Twitch?

TM: I just like to perform and interact with people. Sure, building brands and businesses is also something that I’m really passionate about and like doing, but it began as something just to enjoy doing with my spare time.

TD: There’s a ton of big names in the eSports community as well. Do you find yourself getting recognized or approached as Trevor May the pitcher, or the streamer that plays baseball?

TM: It’s about 50/50 at this point. That’s so cool to me, that it’s like that now. Best of both worlds, I guess.

TD: Was it just natural to gravitate toward some of the other large streamers as your own brand grew? Were those relationships you had previously, or how did you end up meeting some of those guys?

TM: Yeah, honestly, the biggest draw was that we’re all very similar. We’re older guys that had a lot of the same gaming experiences through our childhoods. Collaboration is huge in gaming and I’m so happy I met all these great people.

TD: Where do you go from here? Is it a look towards the next game, an opportunity to create a revenue stream and business post playing career, or is it all just up in the air and see what happens?

TM: I’m more interested in learning to build really great businesses to be honest. I’ll always create content and that is a passion of mine, but my ultimate goal is to build great stuff and be fully my own boss. I’ll podcast, I’ll try radio and broadcast I’m sure, but I really just want to test ideas, try different strategies, and ultimately make a lasting difference in this world.

TD: Gaming ends up being a great outlet to step away from whatever else we’re committed to. What about the hobby helps you to release away from the diamond?

TM: Well, firstly, my performance doesn’t really matter when I play games. I don’t live or die based on outcomes and that’s just nice sometimes, haha. Also, I get to stay in contact with friends, learn new things, and build that side of my life. Kaizen (Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement of working practices, personal efficiency) is my motto. It’s all about 1% better, more efficient, every day.

You can obviously catch Trevor back on the mound in the coming weeks, but he’ll be hanging out at his Twitch channel in between. Seeing guys like May and former Minnesota pitcher Phil Hughes creating content online is a fun view into the more human side of athletes, and it’s something that the masses are definitely embracing. Next time you’re at Target Field, look and see if you can spot any of May’s new baseball jerseys alongside the #65 with the Twins.

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