Alonzo Powell

{{short description|American baseball player and coach (born 1964)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Alonzo Powell

|team=

|number=

|position=Outfielder / Coach

|image=Alonzo Powell 2006 (cropped).jpg

|caption=Powell in 2006

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1964|12|12}}

|birth_place=San Francisco, California, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 6

|debutyear=1987

|debutteam=Montreal Expos

|debut2league = NPB

|debut2date=May 23

|debut2year=1992

|debut2team=Chunichi Dragons

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=October 6

|finalyear=1991

|finalteam=Seattle Mariners

|final2league = NPB

|final2date=August 9

|final2year=1998

|final2team=Hanshin Tigers

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.211

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=3

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=16

|stat2league = NPB

|stat21label=Batting average

|stat21value=.313

|stat22label=Home runs

|stat22value=116

|stat23label=Runs batted in

|stat23value=397

|teams=

As player

Montreal Expos ({{mlby|1987}})
Seattle Mariners ({{mlby|1991}})
Chunichi Dragons ({{npby|1992}}–{{npby|1997}})
Hanshin Tigers ({{npby|1998}})

As coach

Seattle Mariners ({{mlby|2010}})
San Diego Padres ({{mlby|2012}}–{{mlby|2015}})
Houston Astros ({{mlby|2016}}–{{mlby|2017}})
San Francisco Giants ({{mlby|2018}}–{{baseball year|2019}})
Chunichi Dragons ({{npby|2020}}–{{npby|2021}})

|highlights=

3× Central League batting champion
2× Central League All-Star
World Series champion ({{wsy|2017}})

}}

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.

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-padres-powell-hired-as-assistant-hitting-coach-2011nov17-story.html?_amp=true |last= Hayes |first= Dan |title=PADRES: Powell hired as assistant hitting coach |date= November 17, 2011 |work=San Diego Union-Tribune |access-date=December 10, 2019}} 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.[http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111117&content_id=25997850&vkey=news_sd&c_id=sd Padres hire Powell as assistant hitting coach] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126143741/http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111117&content_id=25997850&vkey=news_sd&c_id=sd |date=2011-11-26 }}. MLB.com. Retrieved on November 17, 2011.

On December 7, 2015, the Houston Astros named Powell as the team's new hitting coach.[http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/12/07/astros-complete-swap-by-hiring-former-padres-hitting-coach-alonzo-powell/ Astros complete swap by hiring former Padres hitting coach Alonzo Powell]. Chron.com. Retrieved on December 7. 2015. On November 2, 2017, he accepted the position of hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants.{{Cite news|url=http://www.knbr.com/2017/11/01/giants-hire-new-hitting-coach-away-from-astros-report/|title=Giants hire new hitting coach away from Astros [report]|date=2017-11-01|work=KNBR-AM|access-date=2018-01-23|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721022127/http://www.knbr.com/2017/11/01/giants-hire-new-hitting-coach-away-from-astros-report/|archive-date=2018-07-21|url-status=dead}}

On November 18, 2019, it was announced that Powell had become part of former teammate Tsuyoshi Yoda's backroom staff at the Chunichi Dragons.{{Cite news |url=https://hochi.news/articles/20191118-OHT1T50205.html |title=【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」 |date=2019-11-18 |work=Sports Hochi |access-date=2019-11-18 |publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc. |language=ja |isbn=9781412973823}}

On February 16, 2024, Powell was named hitting coach of the Salt Lake Bees which is the Los Angeles Angels Triple-A affiliate.{{Cite web|url=https://www.milb.com/salt-lake/news/coaching-staff-set-for-2024-season|title = Coaching Staff Set For 2024 Season|website=Minor League Baseball|date=February 16, 2024}}

Personal life

Powell underwent surgery for prostate cancer in January 2018. He later spoke about cancer in Napa.{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Dave |title=Alonzo Powell, Giants' hitting coach, undergoes prostate cancer surgery. |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2018/01/30/alonzo-powell-giants-hitting-coach-undergoes-prostate-cancer-surgery/1080560001/ |access-date=10 August 2018 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=January 30, 2018 |language=en}}