McBean grew up playing baseball in his native Virgin Islands. He was discovered when the Pittsburgh Pirates held a tryout in St. Thomas in 1957. Originally only there to take pictures for a local paper, McBean was convinced by friends to tryout, and ended up receiving an invite to Spring training 1958.\n', '

After three seasons in the Pirates\' farm system, in which he went 28-21 with a 3.57 earned run average, McBean made his major league debut on July 2, 1961 in the first game of a doubleheader against the San Francisco Giants at Forbes Field. Entered a tied game, the first batter he faced, Ed Bailey, reached on an error by second baseman Bill Mazeroski. A double, wild pitch & single later, the Giants had plated two runs. A four run eighth inning by the Pirates spared McBean from taking the loss in his major league debut.\n', '

McBean was flawless in his next six appearances, pitching 10.2 innings without surrendering a run, and earning the first two wins of his career. His first career start also came against the Giants on September 11. He allowed three earned runs over nine innings, and left with the game tied for the no-decision. For the season, he went 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA & 49 strikeouts.\n', '

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