Boog out in Baltimore

Boog Powell batting for the Orioles against Boston at Fenway Park

Less than three months after trading for power-hitting first baseman Lee May, the always-contending Baltimore Orioles 50 years ago today send – or banish, considering the destination at the time – popular first baseman Boog Powell and middling relief pitcher Don Hood to the forever-mediocre Cleveland Indians.

In return for Powell, who during an injury-plagued 1974 season hits only 12 home runs in 110 games, the Orioles acquire catcher Dave Duncan.

Dave Duncan

Powell leaves Baltimore after 13-plus seasons, a span over which he hits 303 home runs in 1,763 games and drives in 1,063 runs.

He is among the key reasons why the Orioles reach four World Series – and win two of them.

Powell also wins the 1970 American League Most Valuable Player Award to cap a season in which the Orioles beat the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.

For the Orioles, Duncan does as he always does, meaning he barely hits above .200 while proving outstanding defense behind the plate.

With Duncan, the Orioles finish second in the American League East to Boston in 1975 and then to New York in 1976.

The Orioles trade Duncan to the Chicago White Sox before the 1977 season, but the White Sox release Duncan before he plays another game in the majors.

Lee May with Baltimore

Done playing at 31 before becoming one of the most respected pitching coaches in the game.

As for Powell, he lasts just two seasons in Cleveland, where he does quite well in 1975 with 27 homers in 134 games with 86 runs batted in before slipping in 1976 with nine homers in 95 games with 33 RBIs.

Like Duncan, Powell – then 36 years old – finishes his career in 1977 as a pinch-hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As for May, he enjoys six mostly productive seasons in Baltimore before finishing up his career in 1982 with Kansas City — where one of his teammates is by then the well-traveled Don Hood — and retiring at 39.