Boog Powell had a long career (1961-1977) mostly with the Baltimore Orioles. He was the 1970 AL MVP and played on two world championship teams (1966 and 1970 Orioles). He was twice the AL Comeback Player of the Year (1966 and 1975) and although he was a league leader only once (slugging in 1964) was often right up there in HR, RBI, and slugging.
Powell was coming off of a good year in 1975, but struggled in 1976 as he hit only nine home runs. He was released during spring training in 1977 and hooked on with the Dodgers as a pinch hitter. With no DH in the National League and Steve Garvey at 1B, Boog didn't have much of a role and was released in August after batting only 53 times.
He now runs Boog's Barbecue near the ballpark in Baltimore.
I met Boog a few years back at his stand. He was a great guy. My friend accidentally knocked over his beer though. When Boog turned around to see what happened, he eclipsed my friend completely. He is still a big dude!
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