30 Jun 2025 501 Hometown Hall of Famers: Mel McGaha

By David Grimes

Mel McGaha was a multisport star at the University of Arkansas, but like a lot of college and professional athletes of the World War II era, he put his career on hold to serve his country.

McGaha was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) in 1970 as part of the 12th class, along with George Harper, Fred Thomsen and Duke Wells.

McGaha was born in 1926 in Bastrop, Louisiana, but his family later moved to the Mabelvale community in southwest Pulaski County, where he grew up and attended school. He graduated from Mabelvale High School in 1943. The school did not field a football team, but MaGaha played basketball and baseball for the Lions.

In 1966, Mabelvale High School was replaced by McClellan High School. In 1973, Mabelvale was officially annexed by Little Rock, and the area is now served by Southwest High School, which opened in 2020.                                                         

McGaha went on to the University of Arkansas, where he played football, basketball and baseball. 

The 1944-45 Razorbacks basketball team competed in the NCAA tournament; however, McGaha had entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in early 1945 and was not discharged until November of that year. He was a reserve on the 1946 Razorbacks football team that went to the Cotton Bowl.

McGaha was a football team captain the following season in 1947. That team won the 1948 Dixie Bowl on New Year’s Day over William & Mary, the first bowl victory in school history. he returned an interception seventy yards for a touchdown in the 21–19 triumph.

After graduating in 1948, McGaha had opportunities to play professional football, baseball and basketball. From 1948-49 he played basketball for the New York Knicks, appearing in 51 games and averaging 3.5 points per game.

On to baseball! McGaha played in the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor league system from 1948 to 1952. He was a member of the 1948 Duluth Dukes and was one of the survivors of a July bus crash in which four players and their manager were killed in a head-on collision with a truck. McGaha made it to the AAA level in 1949 and 1950 but never played in the Major Leagues. In 1953, he left the Cardinals’ organization and played for the AA Shreveport Sports for several years. During his career, McGaha mostly played outfield and first base but was called in to pitch on occasion. Beginning in 1954, McGaha served as a player-manager for the Sports. In 1955, he led Shreveport to the Texas League title.

During this time, McGaha also served as the head basketball coach at Arkansas A&M College, now the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He spent two seasons leading the Boll Weevils, finishing 13-9 in 1953-54, then improving to 19-6 in 1954-55.

In 1958, he became player-manager of the Mobile Bears in Alabama. The Bears were a AA farm team of the Cleveland Indians. McGaha retired as a player the following year, but remained as manager for the Bears. 

He was promoted to the manager of the Indians’ AAA farm team in Toronto for the 1960 season and led them to a 100-54 record, prompting The Sporting News to name McGaha their Minor League Manager of the Year. 

In 1961, he was moved up to a coaching position with the parent Cleveland Indians, then became their manager at age 35 in 1962. After a strong start, the team faded as the season progressed, and he was not retained.  

McGaha then landed a coaching job with the Kansas City Athletics in 1963. In June of 1964, with the A’s in last place, their manager was fired and McGaha was promoted. In May of 1965, with the A’s again in last place, McGaha was let go as well.

He continued to manage in the minor leagues and coach with the Houston Astros before retiring from Major League Baseball in 1970. 

McGaha hit a hole-in-one in 1972 at Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley Country Club on the par-3, 179-yard hole number 17 while playing with Carl Sawatski. (Also a former Major League player, Sawatski served as general manager of the Arkansas Travelers from 1967 until 1975 and was inducted into the ASHOF posthumously in 2005.) 

In 2002, Arkansas multisport legend Mel McGaha passed away in Tulsa, Okla., at the age of 75.