Power-hitting first baseman Boog Powell was a key player of the Baltimore Orioles during the 1960s and 1970s. Known for hitting towering home runs, Powell played an integral role in the Orioles’ success of the era.

Powell made his major league debut at 19 years of age in 1961. For the next 17 years he terrorized pitchers, remaining in the bigs past his 36th birthday.

In his age-20 season, Powell became a regular. The following year in ’63 he hit 25 homers, drove in 82 runs and tallied a 125 OPS+.

In ’64 the 6’4″ 230-pounder had a breakout campaign. He slugged 39 homers to go along with 99 RBI. He hit .290 with a .399 on-base percentage and a league-leading .609 slugging mark.

From 1966-1974 Powell was a key contributor for seven postseason Oriole squads. In ’66 he slugged 34 homers and slashed .287/.372/.532. The performance was good for a third-place finish in MVP balloting. Triple Crown winner Frank Robinson was the unanimous choice. Third baseman Brooks Robinson finished second to make it a Baltimore trifecta.

In the World Series that year Powell hit .357 off of the vaunted Dodger pitching staff that included Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Don Sutton.

From ’68-’71 Boog made four straight All Star teams. He finished second in MVP voting in ’69, pushing the Orioles to the World Series against the Miracle Mets.

In 1970 Powell tallied 35 homers and 114 RBI. That along with his .297/.412/.549 slash line earned him the Most Valuable Player Award. The Birds reached their third World Series in five years and came away with their second Fall Classic title.

Powell’s time in Baltimore lasted four more years until he was traded to Cleveland after the ’74 season. He left as the Orioles career leader in total bases, homers, and runs batted in.

His first year with the Indians was his final productive campaign. Powell hit 27 homers with a solid slash line of .297/.377/.524. His 4.1 WAR was his best mark since his 1970 MVP campaign. After one more year in Cleveland, Powell had a brief stint in Los Angeles before retiring in 1977.

Two years later in 1979 the Orioles inducted him into their team Hall of Fame.

Shown here is a pair of 1970 baseball cards from Powell’s MVP season autographed by the slugger. On the left is his regular-issue rendition. The card on the right shows Powell bringing home the winning run in Game 2 of the ALCS.