Right Fielders of the 70s: Hosken Powell

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.