Career
A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in two games for the 1957-1958 Chicago White Sox, making his Major League debut just three days after his 18th birthday. The native of Savannah, Georgia, batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 4 inches (19 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg). He attended J. M. Tate High School in Gonzalez, Florida.
His earned run average was 1.80.
His minor league pitching career, all in the White Sox farm system, extended from 1957 through 1963, with 1961-1962 spent in military service. McIlwain died in Buffalo, New York, from cancer at the age of 26 and was interred in Spruell Memorial Cemetery, Cantonment, Florida.