Hosken Powell (born May 14, 1955) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. He played from 1978 to 1983 for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). An

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, he threw and batted

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, stood tall and weighed . He attended

Chipola College Chipola College is a public college in Marianna, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. History The school was founded in 1947 as Chipola Junior College; its name was changed in 2003 after the college developed several bachelor's ...

Marianna, Florida Marianna is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Florida, United States, and it is home to Chipola College. The population was 6,102 at the 2010 census. In 2018 the estimated population was 7,091. The official nickname of Marianna is ...

Career

Powell was selected by the Twins in the first round of the secondary phase of the June 1975 amateur draft. He batted over .300 for his first three

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

seasons and was an All-Star in the Class A

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

(1976), when he led the league in

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

and batted .345. He was in the Twins' lineup as the starting

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

and lead-off man on Opening Day 1978, and went

one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

for

four 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

in his debut game, with an

infield hit An infield hit is an outcome in baseball in which the batted ball stays in the infield, but neither the batter nor any runners are put out. If the batter and runners reach safely due to an error, it is not considered an infield hit. Runners norma ...

off

Glenn Abbott William Glenn Abbott (born February 16, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and former pitching coach for the Syracuse Mets. During an 11-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics (1973–76), Seattle Mariners ...

of the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...

br>box score
/ref> Powell started in 99 games in right field that season, but hit only .247 with little power. In , he reached a career high in batting average, at .293, and started in 81 games — half the Twins' regular-season schedule. In , Powell appeared in 137 games, 118 as a starter, and had a career-high 127 hits, but his average fell to .262 and had only 28

extra-base hits In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire anot ...

, including six home runs. He led

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

right-fielders in errors with nine. Strike-shortened was Powell's last year with Minnesota. He appeared in 80 games, 65 as a starting player, and batted .239. He was traded to the Blue Jays on December 28. He got into 112 games as a reserve outfielder and designated hitter for Toronto in , and raised his average to .275. But he was released after a poor half season in and returned to the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

, with the Triple-A

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadium. ...

of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

' organization. He returned to Vancouver for a full season in 1984, but was not recalled by the Brewers, and he played his eleventh and final pro season in 1985 in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. Powell appeared in 594

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

over all or parts of six Major League seasons. His 470 hits included 78 doubles, 17

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

and 17 home runs. He batted .259 in 1,816 at bats.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Hosken 1955 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Alabama Chipola Indians baseball players Elizabethton Twins players Major League Baseball right fielders Minnesota Twins players Reno Silver Sox players San Diego Padres scouts Saraperos de Saltillo players Sportspeople from Selma, Alabama Tacoma Twins players Toronto Blue Jays players Vancouver Canadians players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople