William Henry Powell (May 8, 1919 – August 21, 2004) was an American

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pres ...

between 1946 and 1948.

Career

A native of

Comer, Georgia Comer is a city in Madison and Oglethorpe County, Georgia, United States. It had a population of 1,126 as of the 2010 census. Comer is the largest city in Madison County based on population and total land area. The city is included in the Athen ...

, Powell served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He joined the

in 1946 as one of the club's "big four" starting pitchers along with

Jay Heard Jehosie "Jay" Heard (January 17, 1920 – November 18, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. A native of Athens, Georgia, he was a left-handed pitcher who stood tall and weighed . He pitched two games in Major League Baseball for t ...

, Curtis Hollingsworth and

Jimmy Newberry James Lee Newberry (June 9, 1919 – June 23, 1983), nicknamed "Schoolboy", was an American pitcher in the Negro leagues and in the Japanese Pacific League. Newberry played professionally from 1944 to 1956, playing with the Cincinnati Clowns, Bir ...

. He was the starting and winning pitcher in the first 1948

East–West All-Star Game The East–West All-Star Game was an annual all-star game for Negro league baseball players. The game was the brainchild of Gus Greenlee, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords. In 1933 he decided to emulate the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, usi ...

, and also started two games for the Black Barons in their

1948 Negro World Series The 1948 Negro World Series was the championship tournament for the 1948 season of Negro league baseball. It was the seventh edition of the second incarnation of the Negro World Series and the eleventh overall played. It was a best-of-seven playof ...

loss to the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cumb ...

. Powell earned another All-Star nomination in 1950, finishing the year with a 15-4

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

. Black Barons owner Tom Hayes then released Powell so that he could tryout for the

Sacramento Solons The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976). The current Sacramento River Cats began pl ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. From 1951 to 1956, he played for multiple Minor League Baseball clubs in the Pacific Coast League, Western League,

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

and

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. In 1957, he spent time with both the

Savannah Redlegs A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

of the South Atlantic League and the

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos The Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (''Owls of the Two Laredos''), formerly known as the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo (''Owls of Nuevo Laredo''), are a Minor League Baseball team based in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and Laredo, Texas in the Mexican Leagu ...

of 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 ...

. He played for three separate South Atlantic League clubs from 1958 to 1961 before ending his professional baseball career. Powell died in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

in 2004 at age 85.

References

External links

an
Seamheads
* William Powell a

* Bill Powell Biography fro
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, William 1919 births 2004 deaths Asheville Tourists players Birmingham Black Barons players Charleston Senators players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Colorado Springs Sky Sox (WL) players Havana Sugar Kings players Knoxville Smokies players Sacramento Solons players San Antonio Missions players Savannah Redlegs players Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people American expatriate baseball players in Cuba American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Canada