65 games for Boston in the 1937 season, principally as a backup third baseman, batting above .227. In May 1938, the Chicago Cubs bought Mayo from Boston, but he never appeared in a game for the Cubs. The Pacific Coast League (1938–42) Mayo spent the next five years with the Los Angeles Angels in the Pacific Coast League. In 1938, Los Angeles sportswriters chose him as the Angels' Most Valuable Player after he batted .332 and set a PCL record for playing 34 consecutive error-free games. On July 13, 1941, Mayo (still playing for the Los Angeles Angels) was accused of spitting in the face of umpire Ray Snyder during an argument. League President W. C. Tuttle suspended Mayo for one year. Mayo protested that he never spat and‚ after a series of hearings with minor-league czar Judge Brabham‚ Mayo was reinstated on September 5, 1941, and finished the season with the Angels. Return to MLB (1943–44) After leaving Boston in May 1938, Mayo did not play in another major league game for five years. In November 1942, with the major league player pool depleted by World War II military service, Mayo was drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics from the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft. During spring training prior to the 1943 season, Mayo suffered an eye injury when he was hit by a thrown ball. Mayo and catcher Bob Swift had a man in a rundown between third base and home. Swift's throw caromed off the runner and hit Mayo directly in the left eye, causing a retinal hemorrhage. Mayo later said that the injury affected his sight, and he even had a blind spot, throughout the 1943 season. Despite the injury, Mayo was the Athletics' starting third baseman in 1943, playing 123 games at the position. He led the league in fielding percentage, was awarded his first Gold Glove award, and led the league with 29 fielding runs. However, Mayo felt that the eye injury affected his hitting more than his fielding, and his .219 batting average and 28 RBIs were unimpressive. The A's lost 20 games in a row that year and finished in last place. The A's dropped him at the end of the season because of "poor eyesight." After the 1943 season, Mayo was purchased by the Boston Red Sox, but he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers one month later in the rule