Alonzo Powell

Alonzo Sidney Powell (born December 12, 1964) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos and Seattle Mariners. He is currently the hitting coach of the Salt Lake Bees.

Alonzo Powell
Powell in 2006
Outfielder / Coach
Born: (1964-12-12) December 12, 1964 (age 59) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: April 6, 1987, for the Montreal Expos
NPB: May 23, 1992, for the Chunichi Dragons
Last appearance
MLB: October 6, 1991, for the Seattle Mariners
NPB: August 9, 1998, for the Hanshin Tigers
MLB statistics
Batting average	.211
Home runs	3
Runs batted in	16
NPB statistics
Batting average	.313
Home runs	116
Runs batted in	397
Teams
As player Montreal Expos (1987) Seattle Mariners (1991) Chunichi Dragons (1992–1997) Hanshin Tigers (1998) As coach Seattle Mariners (2010) San Diego Padres (2012–2015) Houston Astros (2016–2017) San Francisco Giants (2018–2019) Chunichi Dragons (2020–2021)
Career highlights and awards
3 x led Central League in batting average 2 x Central League All-Star World Series champion (2017)

Powell was the first foreign player in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) to capture 3 consecutive batting titles.

Professional career

Major League Baseball

Powell was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco Giants in February 1983. He made his major league debut on April 6, 1987, with the Montreal Expos. In 1987, Powell played 14 games, had 8 hits and 4 RBI. In 1991, he played for the Seattle Mariners. He had 24 hits in 111 at-bats (a .216 batting average), 3 home runs, and 12 RBI.

Nippon Professional Baseball

On May 4, 1992, Powell's contract was purchased by the Chunichi Dragons from the Seattle Mariners. Powell played for seven seasons in Japan. He was just the third player in Central League history, and the first foreign player, to win three straight batting titles, hitting .324, .355, and .340 from 1994 to 1996. Four times NPB Japanese Baseball Best Nine center-fielder 1993 to 1996.^[1] He was also a two-time Central League All-Star.

Coaching career

Powell served as the hitting coach of the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts from 2002-2003 and the manager of the Single-A Dayton Dragons from 2004-2005. In 2006, he was the Seattle Mariners minor league hitting instructor. For 2007, he was named the hitting coach for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in the Mariners' organization.

On May 9, 2010, the Seattle Mariners announced that Powell would serve as the team's hitting coach, replacing Alan Cockrell. Powell then was hired as the Assistant Hitting Coach for the San Diego Padres on November 17, 2011.^[1][2]

On December 7, 2015, the Houston Astros named Powell as the team's new hitting coach.^[3] On November 2, 2017, he accepted the position of hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants.^[4]

On November 18, 2019, it was announced that Powell had become part of former teammate Tsuyoshi Yoda's backroom staff at the Chunichi Dragons.^[5]

On February 16, 2024, Powell was named hitting coach of the Salt Lake Bees which is the Los Angeles Angels Triple-A affiliate.^[6]

Personal life

Powell underwent surgery for prostate cancer in January 2018. He later spoke about cancer in Napa.^[7]

References

1. Hayes, Dan (November 17, 2011). "PADRES: Powell hired as assistant hitting coach". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
2. Padres hire Powell as assistant hitting coach 2011-11-26 at the Wayback Machine. MLB.com. Retrieved on November 17, 2011.
3. Astros complete swap by hiring former Padres hitting coach Alonzo Powell. Chron.com. Retrieved on December 7. 2015.
4. . KNBR-AM. 2017-11-01. Archived from the original on 2018-07-21. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
5. "【中日】１９９４年から３年連続首位打者のＯＢパウエル氏と１、２軍巡回打撃コーチとして契約「とても興奮している」". Sports Hochi (in Japanese). SAGE Publications, Inc. 2019-11-18. ISBN 9781412973823. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
6. "Coaching Staff Set For 2024 Season". MiLB.com. February 16, 2024.
7. Clark, Dave (January 30, 2018). "Alonzo Powell, Giants' hitting coach, undergoes prostate cancer surgery". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved 10 August 2018.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)