The Arkansas native came up with the Astros in 1968 and played parts of three seasons as a utility man. He hit .215 in 62 games in his only big league action.

McFadden almost stuck with the Astros in 1965 when he had a hot bat in spring training. He swatted a home run during the exhbition series as the Astrodome opened, setting off the giant scoreboard for one of the first times before a full house. The nearly anonymous shortstop is shown in many photographs sent around the world that displayed the Dome's scroeboard going off in the background. Unfortunately, the rest of his career didn't match his spectacular debut.