Boog Powell
Powell was baseball's gentle giant who could absolutely mash, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing north of 270 pounds in an era when that made him a physical anomaly. His 1970 MVP season anchored Baltimore's World Series championship, where he hit .297 with 35 homers and drove in 114 runs with an OPS+ of 135. That performance came at age 28, right in his prime years.
The nickname "Boog" fit perfectly — he was an imposing presence at first base who could turn on any fastball. Powell's 339 career home runs and .266 average don't jump off the page today, but his 114 career OPS+ shows he was consistently above-average for 17 seasons. He made four All-Star teams during Baltimore's golden era, providing the middle-of-the-order thump that helped the Orioles capture three pennants in the early 1970s.
Career · Batting
17 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | BAL | 4 | 13 | 0 | 1 | .077 | .154 | — |
| 1962 | BAL | 124 | 400 | 15 | 53 | .243 | .708 | — |
| 1963 | BAL | 140 | 491 | 25 | 82 | .265 | .799 | — |
| 1964 | BAL | 134 | 424 | 39 | 99 | .290 | 1.005 | — |
| 1965 | BAL | 144 | 472 | 17 | 72 | .248 | .754 | — |
| 1966 | BAL | 140 | 491 | 34 | 109 | .287 | .903 | — |
| 1967 | BAL | 125 | 415 | 13 | 55 | .234 | .690 | — |
| 1968 | BAL | 154 | 550 | 22 | 85 | .249 | .748 | — |
| 1969 | BAL | 152 | 533 | 37 | 121 | .304 | .942 | — |
| 1970 | BAL | 154 | 526 | 35 | 114 | .297 | .962 | 135 |
| 1971 | BAL | 128 | 418 | 22 | 92 | .256 | .839 | 123 |
| 1972 | BAL | 140 | 465 | 21 | 81 | .252 | .780 | 117 |
| 1973 | BAL | 114 | 370 | 11 | 54 | .265 | .792 | 113 |
| 1974 | BAL | 110 | 344 | 12 | 45 | .265 | .771 | 111 |
| 1975 | CLE | 134 | 435 | 27 | 86 | .297 | .901 | 128 |
| 1976 | CLE | 95 | 293 | 9 | 33 | .215 | .643 | 94 |
| 1977 | LAD | 50 | 41 | 0 | 5 | .244 | .659 | 90 |
| Career | 2042 | 6681 | 339 | 1187 | .266 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.