Age: 29 (Aug. 17)
9th season
with Orioles
Bats – Left,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’4” Weight: 230
Prior to 1970:
A Florida
native, John Wesley Powell acquired his nickname “Boog” in his youth. At 12 he
pitched for the Lakeland team that advanced to the Little League World Series.
Going to high school in Key West he played football and basketball in addition
to baseball. Coming out of high school in 1959 at age 17 Powell signed with the
Orioles for a $35,000 bonus. Initially assigned to Bluefield of the Class D
Appalachian League he played in the outfield and in 56 games batted .351 with
14 home runs and 59 RBIs. In 1960, advancing to Fox Cities of the Class B
Illinois-Indiana–Iowa (or “Three I”) League, he was shifted to first base and
hit .312 with 13 home runs and 100 RBIs. Promoted to the Rochester Red Wings of
the Class AAA International League in 1961, Powell batted .321 with a
league-leading 32 home runs in addition to 92 RBIs. In a late-season stint with
the Orioles he appeared in four games and produced his first major league hit. Highly
touted coming into his rookie year in 1962, Powell was blocked at first base by
veteran slugger Jim Gentile, forcing a move to left field to find him a spot in
the lineup. He hit a disappointing .243 with 15 home runs and 53 RBIs. An
offseason of winter ball in Puerto Rico seemed to help as he batted .265 in
1963 with 25 home runs and 82 RBIs. Powell had a big year in 1964, batting .290
with 39 home runs and 99 RBIs while leading the AL with a .606 slugging
percentage. He placed eleventh in league MVP voting. 1965 was a tougher year as
he was moved to first base and suffered through various injuries while hitting
.248 with 17 home runs and 72 RBIs. Often struggling with his weight during his
career, Powell was fined by manager Hank Bauer for being overweight. He
rebounded in 1966, a pennant-winning season for the Orioles, by batting .287
with 34 home runs and 109 RBIs. In a World Series triumph over the Dodgers that
was spurred by Baltimore’s dominant pitching, Powell hit .357 during the
four-game sweep. The Orioles dropped to sixth in 1967 and the big first baseman
was benched for much of the season’s second half as he dropped to .234 with 13
home runs and 55 RBIs. He was an All-Star for the first time in 1968, a year in
which he topped the club with 22 home runs and 85 RBIs while batting .249. With
Baltimore regaining pennant-winning form in 1969, Powell improved to .304 with
37 home runs and 121 RBIs although he contributed little in the World Series
loss to the Mets.
1970 Season Summary
Appeared in 154
games
1B – 145, PH –
11
[Bracketed numbers
indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 643
At Bats – 526
Runs – 82
Hits – 156
Doubles – 28 [14,
tied with four others]
Triples – 0
Home Runs – 35 [5]
RBI – 114 [3]
Bases on Balls
– 104 [6]
Int. BB – 18 [3]
Strikeouts – 80
Stolen Bases –
1
Caught Stealing
– 1
Average - .297
[11]
OBP - .412 [3]
Slugging Pct. -
.549 [2]
Total Bases – 289
[5]
GDP – 14
Hit by Pitches
– 5
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 8 [4,
tied with Harmon Killebrew & Ted Uhlaender]
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 23, RBI – 73, AVG – .320, SLG - .605
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) vs. Washington 6/19
Longest hitting
streak – 8 games
HR at home – 18
HR on road – 17
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 4 AB) vs. Cleveland 6/30
Multi-HR games
– 1
Most RBIs, game
– 6 at Minnesota 7/26
Pinch-hitting –
1 of 8 (.125) with 3 BB
Fielding
Chances – 1308
Put Outs – 1209
Assists – 89
Errors – 10
DP – 107
Pct. - .992
Postseason
Batting: 8 G (ALCS vs. Minnesota – 3 G; World Series vs. Cincinnati – 5 G)
PA – 36, AB – 31,
R – 8, H – 11, 2B – 3,3B – 0, HR – 3, RBI – 11, BB – 5, IBB – 0, SO – 5, SB – 0,
CS – 0, AVG - .355, OBP - .444, SLG - .742, TB – 23, GDP – 3, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star (Started
for AL at 1B)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Boog Powell,
Balt.: 234 pts. - 11 of 24 first place votes, 70% share
Tony Oliva,
Min.: 157 pts. – 5 first place votes, 47% share
Harmon
Killebrew, Min.: 152 pts. – 1 first place vote, 45% share
Carl
Yastrzemski, Bos.: 136 pts. – 2 first place votes, 40% share
Frank Howard,
Wash.: 91 pts. – 1 first place vote, 27% share
(2 first place
votes for Brooks Robinson, Balt., who ranked 7th & 1 first place
vote apiece for Tommy Harper, Mil., who ranked sixth & Ron Perranoski,
Min., who ranked 12th)
---
Orioles went 108-54
to finish first in the AL Eastern Division by 15 games over the New York
Yankees, while leading the league in runs scored (792), RBIs (748), stolen
bases (168), walks drawn (717), and OBP (.344). In first place for all but
eight days during the season, the Orioles dominated the AL East for their
second straight division title. Won ALCS over the Minnesota Twins, 3 games to
0. Won World Series over the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 1.
Aftermath of ‘70:
Powell slumped
midway through the 1971 season and then suffered a broken wrist on his way to
batting .256 with 22 home runs and 92 RBIs. In 1972 he produced a .252 average
with 21 home runs and 81 RBIs. Dealing with a sore shoulder in 1973 Powell
batted .265 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs. Having difficulty in trying to trade
Powell, he continued with the Orioles in 1974 and, while benched for a time, he
hit .265 again with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs. In the offseason he was dealt to
the Cleveland Indians, which reunited him with former teammate Frank Robinson,
the new Cleveland manager. He had a fine comeback season in 1975 as he batted
.297 with 27 home runs and 86 RBIs and committed only three errors in the
field. In 1976, injuries limited Powell to 89 games and his production dropped
off to .215 with 9 home runs and 33 RBIs. Released in the spring of 1977, he
joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as a little-used backup to first baseman Steve
Garvey. Released at the end of August he retired at age 35. Overall, in the
major leagues Powell batted .266 with 1776 hits that included 270 doubles, 11
triples, and 339 home runs. Additionally, he scored 889 runs and compiled 1187
RBIs. A slow runner, he stole just 20 bases. With the Orioles he batted .266
with 1574 hits, 243 doubles, 11 triples, 303 home runs, 1063 RBIs, and 796 runs
scored. Appearing in 33 postseason games he batted .262 with 6 home runs and 18
RBIs. A four-time All-Star, Powell was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall
of Fame in 1979.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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