Right Fielders of the 70s: Hosken Powell

[Theo Tollefson]

Hosken Powell had the shortest MLB career between three Tony Oliva successors, but he still often found himself in the lineup throughout his four seasons with the Twins. 

 

Powell was born in Selma, Alabama, on May 14, 1955, during the height of racial segregation in the South. Powell did not receive much attention from Major League scouts until he attended Chipola College in Marianna, Florida, a junior college that would later produce future MLB all-stars Jose Bautista, Patrick Corbin, Russell Martin, and future Minnesota Twins outfielder Rene Tosoni. 

While at Chipola College, Powell was first drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the 1975 MLB January Draft-Regular Phase but declined to sign with the Pirates. Powell played one more season with Chipola, then was selected by the Twins in June 1975 draft, signing with the team as a 20-year-old athlete.  

Powell broke into MLB with the Twins in 1978 as a 23-year-old rookie and made his debut on Opening Day against the Seattle Mariners as the Twins leadoff hitter. The Twins suffered a 3-2 loss that day, but Powell at least recorded his first hit in the majors. 

The 1978 season was a decent start to Powell's MLB career. He hit .247 with 20 doubles in 121 games. He stole 11 bases. Powell's promise as a hitter was never that of the modern, power hitter. Like many Twins in the mid-to-late 70s, Powell was brought on for his contact-hitting abilities as he had batting averages of .329, .345, and .326 in his first three professional seasons. 

In 1979, Powell's hitting showed some improvement. Although Powell played fewer games (104) than the previous year, his numbers showed tremendous success during his sophomore season. He had a .293 batting average, a .360 on-base percentage, and a career-high .739 OPS. He had 17 doubles and drove in 36 runs. 

As the decade turned to the '80s, Powell remained the Twins' everyday right fielder for the next two seasons. Powell's production in the 1980 season would be one of his better seasons. He played in a career-high 137 games and had a career-high 127 hits, 14 stolen bases, and 58 runs scored. Powell hit .262. 

Powell's final season with the Twins was in 1981 during the strike-shortened season when the Twins and other teams only played around 110 games. Powell played in 80 games that season for the Twins, splitting playing time with Twins rookie Dave Engle. 

1981 was the worst of Powell's four seasons, with the Twins posting a .239 batting average, with 25 runs batted in, and a .612 OPS. Following the conclusion of the season, Powell was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later that would be Greg Wells, a first baseman who only played 15 games for the Twins in 1982. Powell regained his success with Toronto in 1982 and found a successful role as a backup outfielder with the team. 1983 was his final season in the big leagues. Powell only played in 40 games with the Blue Jays and was released by them in July. 

Powell tried to make his way back into the big leagues in the Brewers minor league system in 1984 but never received the call. He also played in the Mexican League in 1985, his final season in professional baseball.

Powell's time with the Twins and in MLB was short-lived, and he never panned out to the top of the lineup as the contact hitter the team had drafted him as. Still, Powell was a reliable player in the Twins lineup who finished out the everyday right fielder role in the 70s. 

 

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[Hosken Bombo Disco]

One of my favorite players as a kid - and I don’t know why.  

maybe I was at the game he homered off of Palmer? My father liked to take me to games when the Twins were facing great pitchers. I have distinct memories of seeing (or being at) Fidrych and Nolan Ryan game at the Met, and seeing a lot of Dave Goltz games. Hosken Powell also homered off of Fergie Jenkins his rookie season! (had to dig through the game logs for that one)

[AceWrigley]

We "lovingly" called him Coconut Head. When he came up to bat, we'd yell, "Hey Coconut Head!". I can't really remember why. Powell got traded to Toronto and when I went to a few games there in 1982 at Exhibition Stadium (which I always thought meant an exhibition on how NOT to build a ballpark)  I informed the few fans around me that his nickname was Coconut Head, which they thought was great inside knowledge and I instructed them on it's proper usage. So he came up to pinch hit and we all yelled, "Hey Coconut Head!" You could see him pause and slyly look around like oh crap, those dudes from Minnesota are here. I think he got a base hit. Good fun.

[Game7-91]

Where is he now? Article from last summer, connected with Pensacola:

https://www.pnj.com/story/sports/2021/06/28/divided-time-pensacola-seagulls-created-unifying-baseball-community/5373449001/

[ashbury]

3 hours ago, Game7-91 said:

Where is he now? Article from last summer, connected with Pensacola:

https://www.pnj.com/story/sports/2021/06/28/divided-time-pensacola-seagulls-created-unifying-baseball-community/5373449001/

That's great.   Curious in the same way, I looked at the SABR site, and nobody has done a bio on him yet.  Seems overdue.

[IndianaTwin]

6 hours ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

….

Disco. Check. (Yesterday)

Hosken. Check. (Today)

Bombo. Coming?

[Twins_Fan_For_Life]

Saw Hosken hit a 3-run homer in the 9th inning against the Brewers' Jim Slaton in 1981 at the Met. Slaton took a no-hitter into the ninth inning.  Twins still lost 5-3 with Rollie Fingers closing it out.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

On 2/26/2022 at 10:55 PM, Twins_Fan_For_Life said:

Saw Hosken hit a 3-run homer in the 9th inning against the Brewers' Jim Slaton in 1981 at the Met. Slaton took a no-hitter into the ninth inning.  Twins still lost 5-3 with Rollie Fingers closing it out.

I firmly believe the Twins would have won that game, if Hosken Powell could have come around to bat again in the ninth. ?