Paul Ray Powell (born March 19, 1948) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. Powell was the seventh player selected overall, and the first round pick of the Minnesota Twins, in the

1969 Major League Baseball draft The 1969 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882). First round selections The following are the first round picks ...

. But he would appear in only in 39

MLB 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), ...

games over parts of three seasons as 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 c ...

and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for the Twins () and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

( and ). Although modern sources list him only by his first name, during his baseball career he was referred to as "Paul Ray" Powell. Born in

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...

, Powell threw and batted

right-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 . After graduating from

Santa Cruz Valley Union High School Santa Cruz Valley Union High School is a high school in Eloy, Arizona. It is the only school under the jurisdiction of the Santa Cruz Valley Union High School District. Notable alumni * Art Malone and Benny Malone Benjamin Malone, Jr. (February ...

in Eloy, Arizona, he attended Arizona State University, where he was the starting center fielder for ASU's 1969 championship teamSanta Cruz Valley Union High School alumni biography
/ref> and a defensive back and placekicker on the Sun Devils' 1967 and 1968 football teams. He received his degree in secondary education in 1974. Powell's pro career lasted for seven years, through 1975. As a major leaguer he collected seven hits, including a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

and a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, in 42 at bats ( .167). His lone home run came in his third game in MLB on April 10, 1971, a solo blow off

Don Eddy Don Eddy (born 1944) is a contemporary representational painter.Martin, Alvin. "Spaces of the Mind: New paintings by Don Eddy," ''Arts'', February 1987, p. 22–3.Baker, Kenneth"Don Eddy,"''Artforum'', March 1972. Retrieved March 4, 2021. He ga ...

of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

at Comiskey Park.

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: 1971-04-10
/ref> Defensively, he played 80 innings in the outfield, and 24 as a catcher. After leaving baseball, Powell had a long career in the real estate industry in Arizona.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Paul 1948 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players All-American college baseball players Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Baseball players from Arizona Baseball players from Texas Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Denver Bears players Evansville Triplets players Florida Instructional League Twins players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball center fielders Minnesota Twins players People from Eloy, Arizona People from San Angelo, Texas Portland Beavers players Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area