#560 Boog Powell - Baltimore Orioles

John Wesley Powell
Baltimore Orioles
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  230
Born:  August 17, 1941, Lakeland, FL
Signed:  Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1961-1974; Cleveland Indians 1975-1976; Los Angeles Dodgers 1977

Slugger Boog Powell helped lead the Orioles to their first two World Championship titles in 1966 and 1970, while also winning A.L. MVP honors in 1970.  Powell was a four-time All-Star, finishing in the top ten in the A.L. for batting average three times and in the top ten for both home runs and RBIs in seven different seasons.  While he never led the league in either category, he cleared the 30 home run plateau four times and drove in over 100 runs three times.  During his MVP campaign of 1970, Powell batted .297 with 35 home runs and 114 RBIs, a few short in each category from his 1969 career highs (37 home runs with 121 RBIs).

December 26, 2020 - Masked up at Christmas

After two seasons in Cleveland and a brief stint with the Dodgers late in his career, Powell retired in 1977 after 2,042 games.  He had a lifetime .266 average with 339 home runs and 1,187 RBIs.  His 303 home runs with the Orioles are third on their all-time franchise list behind Cal Ripken (431) and Eddie Murray (343).  Powell was elected into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1979 and he currently owns Boog's Barbecue, a highly recommended stop if you ever visit Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Building the Set
December 26, 2020 from Wenonah, NJ - Card #217
My Mom needed a few additional Christmas presents for her oldest grandson Doug, and I gladly offered to help with five star cards purchased from Gar Miller Cards in Wenonah, New Jersey.  I had recently learned that not only was Mr. Miller a hobby legend, but that he was still actively selling cards from my neck of the woods in South Jersey.  We exchanged e-mail pleasantries, and I'm looking forward to buying more cards from our set from him in the future.  Doug was more excited about the video games he had received from his Mimi for Christmas, but to his credit he recognized the players on each of the five cards she had gifted him.  I've already featured Jim Bunning (#20), Tommy John (#208), Tim McCarver (#294) and Art Mahaffey (#446) and this Powell card wraps up the large stack of cards added to our set during the strange Christmas of 2020.

The Card / Orioles Team Set
The photo used here must be from the 1964 season, as that's the only season Powell wore #8.  This is his second appearance in the 1965 Topps set, as he appeared on the A.L. Home Run Leaders card (#3) way back in the first series.  On the back of the card, Powell's prowess against the Senators is highlighted.  By the end of his career, Powell had hit 39 home runs against the Senators/Rangers, a mark matched by the 39 home runs hit against the Red Sox and eclipsed by the 40 hit against the Tigers and 41 against the Yankees.  During his time with the Indians in 1975 and 1976, Powell hit 5 home runs against the Orioles.

Powell, at card #29, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Orioles in the set.  He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.

1965 Season
Manager Hank Bauer (#323) moved Powell to first base for the 1965 season.  He slumped badly while learning his new position, batting just .248 for the season and hitting 17 home runs with 72 RBIs.  The .248 average was due solely to a late season rally as he was hitting only .216 as late as June 30th.  His SABR biography notes that Powell was fined by Bauer during the season for being overweight.

1962 Topps #99

1967 Topps #230

1970 Topps #410

1975 Topps #625

1977 Topps #206

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #99
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1962-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Topps Update Decades' Best #DB-22

360 - Powell non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/8/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #559 Ed Bailey - San Francisco Giants

Next Card:  #561 Dodgers Rookie Stars

#3 1964 A.L. Home Run Leaders - Killebrew, Powell & Mantle

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1965 Topps set.

Building the Set
April 29, 2020 from Olney, MD - Card #92

In the middle of the sixth week of the coronavirus lockdown, I decided I needed some cardboard therapy.  The last card I had added for our set was back in the beginning of April when I went searching for the Al Kaline (#130) card upon his passing.  With no clear direction in mind, I went out to eBay and decided I'd pool my budget together for a few of the bigger cards in the set.  I browsed aimlessly until deciding on a reasonable strategy for my search - I'd look for cards in the order we needed them.  We already have cards #1 and #2, so I started looking for cards #3 and #4.  If I use this strategy again, I might start going backwards too, looking for cards #598, #597, etc.  I realize I'm lucky I can still buy baseball cards at this time and I don't take it for granted that I'm able to do so.  I'd like to think that buying these few cards is also helping the sellers in some small way.

This card is the priciest of the league leaders cards as it features Mickey Mantle (#350).  I bought this from a seller in Olney, MD on a Sunday and the card arrived at our house on Wednesday.  The price I paid for it was fair and the happiness it brought me upon its arrival was immediate and much needed.

At the end of April, the end of the lockdown was still no where in sight, although some states had started to (most likely prematurely) ease restrictions.  My family was safe and healthy and we had settled into our new routine, only leaving the house for walks, to play outside or to venture to the grocery store.  What a strange, stressful and scary time.

The Card
The A.L. Batting Leaders card (#1) features the same three teams as this card, in the same order, but with three different players - Tony Oliva (#340), Brooks Robinson (#150) and Elston Howard (#450).  Rather than displaying each player's team name next to their names, I would have preferred Topps gave us their leading totals on the fronts of these cards.  Harmon Killebrew (#400) had 49 home runs, and it was the fourth time he had led the league in this category.  He'd top the league twice more in 1967 and 1969, with the 49 home runs he hit in 1964 and 1969 representing career highs.

Boog Powell (#560) had 39 home runs, a career high for him, and this was the closest he'd ever come to leading the league.  He had seven top 10 finishes in the home run category between 1964 and 1975.  Mantle's 35 home runs would be the last time the slugger surpassed the 30-home run plateau in his career.  He had previously led the league in 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1960.  He hit home run #35 on September 30th, breaking the tie he had with Rocky Colavito (#380).  Colavito had hit his 34th home run of the season on September 29th and had Mantle not connected on the 30th, he would have been squeezed into the bottom row of this card with Powell and Mantle.

Flipping to the back, it's cool that Topps decided to include every A.L. batter who had hit a grand slam in 1964.

Twins Team Set / Orioles Team Set / Yankees Team Set

Previous Card:  #2 1964 N.L. Batting Leaders

Next Card:  #4 1964 N.L. Home Run Leaders