Alonzo Powell


Alonzo Sidney Powell is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He batted and threw right-handed.
Powell was the first foreign player in the NPB to capture 3 consecutive batting titles.

Career

Playing career

Minor and Major League Baseball

Powell played under Gary Attell at Aptos Junior High School, where he honed his skills as a catcher. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco Giants in February 1983. He made his major league debut on April 6,, with the Montreal Expos. In 1987, Powell played 14 games, had 8 hits and 4 RBI. In, he played for the Seattle Mariners. He had 24 hits in 111 at-bats, 3 home runs, and 12 RBI.

Nippon Professional Baseball

Following his major league career, 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. 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 - and the manager of the Single-A Dayton Dragons from -. In, he was the Seattle Mariners minor league hitting instructor. For, 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.
On December 7, 2015, the Houston Astros named Powell as the team's new hitting coach. On November 2, 2017, he accepted the position of hitting coach for the San Francisco Giant.
On November 18, 2019, it was announced that Powell had become part of former team mate Tsuyoshi Yoda's backroom staff at the Chunichi Dragons.

Personal life

Powell underwent surgery for prostate cancer in January 2018. He later spoke about cancer in Napa.