Boog Powell

Boog Powell: Orioles slugger and 1970 AL MVP

John Wesley "Boog" Powell (born August 17, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder, most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1971. The four-time All-Star led the American League in 1964 with a .606 slugging percentage and won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1970. He also played for the Cleveland Indians and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1979, Powell was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.

Quick Facts

Position: First baseman
Born: 17 August 1941
Birthplace: Lakeland, Florida, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Debut league: MLB
Debut date: September 26
Debut year: 1961

Lore & Background

Powell was born in Lakeland, Florida on August 17, 1941. He played for that city's team in the 1954 Little League World Series. After his family moved to Key West when he was 15, Powell played at Key West High School and graduated in 1959. He received the nickname "Boog" from his father. As Powell explained, "In the South they call little kids who are often getting into mischief buggers (pronounced 'boogers'), and my dad shortened it to Boog."

Reader's Guide

Powell signed with the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent in 1959. Jim Russo, the scout who signed him, was also the scout who would sign Jim Palmer and Dave McNally with the Orioles. Powell's signing occurred at a time before the Major League Baseball draft. Both the Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals were pursuing the 18-year old Powell as a free agent.

Jim McLauglin, the head of the Orioles' minor league system and scouting staff contacted Walter Shannon, the head of the Cardinals' minor league system. McLaughlin suggested that they flip a coin to determine who would approach Powell with a contract offer, rather than have a bidding war over Powell as a true free agent in a competitive market. McLauglin, Shannon, Russo and Cardinals' scout Whitey Reis met for the coin flip, with Russo successfully calling tails.

Russo signed Powell for a $25,000 bonus, tens of thousands of dollars less than the Orioles or Cardinals would have paid Powell if they bid against each other. In 1959, Powell played 56 games for the Bluefield Orioles of the Appalachian League, batting .351, with 14 home runs in 191 at bats. The following season, he batted .312 with 13 home runs for the Fox Cities Foxes of the Class B Three-I League, playing in Appleton, Wisconsin. Among his Foxes' teammates were Powell's future Orioles manager Earl Weaver, Cal Ripken, Sr., future Orioles general manager Pat Gillick, and future Cy Young Award winner Dean Chance.

In 1961, the Orioles promoted Powell to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings of the International League (IL). Powell joined the Orioles late in 1961, after leading the International League in home runs. At Rochester, he had a .321 batting average, with 32 home runs, 92 runs batted in (RBI), 86 runs scored, and a .981 OPS (on-base plus slugging). In addition to leading the IL in home runs, Powell was fifth in batting average, first in OPS, first in slugging percentage (.593), second in RBIs, and sixth in runs.

Powell spent his first three seasons in Baltimore as a slow-footed left fielder before switching to first base. At the plate he was an immediate success, hitting 25 home runs in 1964; in 1964 he led the American League in slugging percentage (.606) while blasting a career-high 39 home runs, despite missing several weeks because of an injured wrist.

Did You Know?

He stands third only behind Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr. on the all-time home run list of the Orioles.
In 1983, Powell received five votes for the Hall of Fame (1.3% of all Baseball Writers' Association of America voters) in his only appearance on the ballot.
Powell and Jim Barbieri became the first players to have played in both the Little League World Series and MLB World Series.