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John Wesley Powell
Baltimore Orioles
First Base
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 1961-74; Cleveland Indians 1975-76; Los Angeles Dodgers 1977
World Series Appearances: Baltimore Orioles 1966, 1969-71
Slugger Boog Powell helped lead the Orioles to their first two World Championship titles in 1966 and 1970, while also winning MVP honors in 1970. Powell was a four-time All-Star, finishing in the top ten in the American League 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).
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 throughout the early 1990s and 2000s, he could be found at Boog's Barbecue on game days, a highly recommended stop if you ever visit Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Slugger Boog Powell helped lead the Orioles to their first two World Championship titles in 1966 and 1970, while also winning MVP honors in 1970. Powell was a four-time All-Star, finishing in the top ten in the American League 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).
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 throughout the early 1990s and 2000s, he could be found at Boog's Barbecue on game days, a highly recommended stop if you ever visit Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #624
The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index +1
1969 Season
From his SABR biography, written by Joseph Wancho:
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #99
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1962-77
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Update Decades' Best #DB-22
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 368 in the Beckett online database as of 2/1/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Niagara Sports Cards)
On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. My third stop was a smaller table with the impossible to pass up offer of 1969 Topps commons that were only $1, unless marked. The binder was right at the end of the table, making it an even easier sell. The prices on some of the cards were stunningly low, so I was even more surprised when the dealer, Niagara Sports Cards, gave me an even deeper discount upon tallying up my total.
I found 12 cards needed from Niagara Sports Cards, and this was the second of those 12, and the 65th of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day. True to its advertising, this card was stunningly less than a dollar after the discount.
The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index +1
This is the first card in the set to repeat a photo collectors had already seen, as the same exact photo of Powell is used for his 1968 Topps card. A lot of the cartoons used on the back of these cards are fairly basic, but this one genuinely made me chuckle. His success in the 1966 World Series and his team-leading 22 homer runs in 1968 are highlighted in the write-up. That's a low tally by today's standards, but 1968 is universally regarding as the Year of the Pitcher.
Topps reprinted this card in its 2002 Topps Archives set.
Accuracy Index: Powell's card drops to +1 for the repeat photo usage.
1969 Season
From his SABR biography, written by Joseph Wancho:
Powell had a great season in 1969, smacking 37 home runs and 25 doubles, and setting career marks in RBIs (121) and batting average (.304). He was the American League’s starting first baseman in the All-Star Game. He had an 18-game hitting streak from May 9 to May 30, falling two short of the club record set by Bob Nieman in 1956. On August 16 at Sick’s Stadium in Seattle, he hit an inside-the-park home run off former teammate Steve Barber (#233). He made only seven errors at first base. "Boog has come so far in the last couple of years," said second baseman Dave Johnson (#203). "He used to hug the line and just cover the bag four or five years ago, playing every hitter the same. Now he’ll come off, allowing me to shade second." After sweeping the Twins in the playoffs, the Orioles fell flat in the 1969 World Series, losing to the underdog New York Mets in five games. Powell had a disappointing Series, hitting .263 with no extra-base hits and four strikeouts.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #99
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1962-77
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Update Decades' Best #DB-22
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 368 in the Beckett online database as of 2/1/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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