Prior to joining the Pirates, O'Connell attended Duquesne University.

[2] He made his major league debut on August 16, 1928, at the age of 24.

He returned near the end of the 1929 season and played two more games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, where his only hit in seven at bats was a double, in which he would score a run.

[1] He did not return for the 1930 season and never played in Major League Baseball again.

O'Connell died in Canton, Ohio, on October 17, 1992, at the age of 88.