Phil Powers
From BR Bullpen
Philip J. Powers (Grandmother)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 7", Weight 166 lb.
- Debut August 31, 1878
- Final Game August 26, 1885
- Born July 26, 1854 in New York, NY USA
- Died December 22, 1914 in New York, NY USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Phil Powers played at a time when catchers didn't have to hit .200 to stick in the majors. Powers played seven seasons and hit .180.
Powers, who played for a team in London, Ontario, Canada, before and after his major league days, was an early experimenter while at London with a catcher's glove. Powers, not a Canadian, had been one of several U.S. players recruited to stock the London team. He suffered a broken finger while with the team in 1877, which may have been an incentive to experiment with a glove.
Powers also did some umpiring at the major league level.
In early 1915 one of Sporting Life's columnists wrote about the death of Phil Powers as follows:
"Phil Powers is dead. Only one of Cincinnati's papers carried the story. . . and yet Phil belongs in the Red Hall of Fame. He was one of the famed team which captured the only pennant Cincinnati ever hoisted to the breezes. . . He was a tall, rawboned fellow . . ."
