You gotta figure a dude who goes through life answering to “Boog” has to have some sort of sense of humor, right?
Indeed, when asked about how he got his nickname by Baseball Digest back in 1987, Boog Powell related that his father gave him the label because he was a “bugger” — a little kid prone to finding trouble.
(Current Reds minor leaguer Boog Powell also came by the name from his father, as a way to differentiate the boy from three other generations of Herschel Mack Powells, and as a nod to the Orioles great bugger.)
Of course, Powell — the Orioles slugger — developed a Major League legacy that grew way beyond the confines of any quirky moniker.
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The 1970 American League MVP for Baltimore’s World Series championship team, Powell spent 17 season in the Big Leagues at first base (mostly) and left field. Along the way, he racked up 339 home runs, nearly 1200 RBI, and close to 1800 hits to go along with four All-Star nods and a slew of MVP votes and postseason appearances.
Still, that nickname is a defining characteristic of the hulking lefty/righty (batting/throwing) who anchored the O’s infield for a decade before winding up his career with the Indians and Dodgers.
Seems fitting, then, that a a player named “Boog” would feature in a baseball card set dubbed “Baseball Wit” more than a decade after he hung up his spikes … doesn’t it?
Yeah.
Produced by Interpretive Marketing Products in Montana, the 1990 Baseball Wit set featured former Little Leaguers who eventually made their marks in the Majors. Each of the 108 cards rolls out a series of trivia questions on card backs and is intended for use in game play, where contestants answer the questions and/or identify the player on the card front.
You know, thus showing how much of “Baseball Wit” they are.
And, legend has it, anyone who was unable to identify Boog Powell on card number 9 was immediately expelled from the Harry Steinfeldt Fan Club.
You could look it up … if only there had been an internet back in 1990.
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