1946-1947
EDDIE McGAH   C

Eddie McGah was born on September 30, 1921 in Oakland, California. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Oakland and the Red Sox signed him after he had hit .428 in his senior year. During a visit to Fenway right out of school in 1939, Eddie caught batting practice and then took some swings himself and hit one to the fence.

His pro career began with his assignment to the Red Sox Class C club in the Middle Atlantic League, the Canton Terriers, in 1940. He lasted just five games before a knee injury sent him home for an operation.

In each of the next two years, he started with one club and then wound up elsewhere. In 1941 he started with Class C Oneonta but was bumped up to the Eastern League’s Scranton Red Sox, in Class A, where he batted.329.

With World War II on, he wound up in the US Navy. He started off being stationed in his hometown, and on the team of the Oakland Naval Air Station. He then was stationed in Hawaii and played ball as catcher for the Base 8 Hospital team, where he was considered the best young star in the loop.

He trained with the Red Sox at Sarasota, Florida, in the spring of 1946, but unfortunately, he didn’t get in as much work as he would have liked, due to an injured finger. The plan was to send him back to the minors for further seasoning, but he stuck with the club and made his debut in April in Philadelphia. He didn’t play at all in either July or August because the Red Sox were on such a roll all season long, that there simply weren’t the openings there might have been. He was on the eligible list for the World Series, but saw no action.

In the spring of 1947, he was with the team throughout the exhibition season, and traveled north to Boston to play in the City Series against the Braves, but in April he was optioned to Louisville. Before the end of July he was back with the Red Sox, where he finished the season. Eddie got into nine games, but achieved a somewhat unremarkable record. He was 0 for 14, but he scored one run and drove in two.

The team proffered Eddie a contract for 1948 and he trained in Sarasota, no doubt hoping for another shot at proving his worth, but he was sent to Scranton again, this time playing third base. He appeared in a few games, having suffered serious knee troubles, and went on the voluntarily retired list in May.

After baseball Eddie worked as a contractor living in Orinda, California. But he turned his attentions to another sport and became a minority partner of the Oakland Raiders. He and his father are both listed as the original partners in the Oakland Raiders franchise.

Eddie McGah passed away in Oakland, California, on September 30, 2002 at age 81.