MOULTRIE, Ga. — Former Colquitt County Packer and Major League Baseball pitcher Dennis Powell shared his story of overcoming devastating personal tragedy through faith at the team’s First Pitch Dinner Thursday night.
More than 300 alumni, faculty, players and supporters attended the event as Powell, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers, delivered a message about perseverance and the importance of character.
Powell, born in 1963, was undrafted and unrecruited out of Colquitt County despite impressive high school statistics. After graduation in 1981, he worked on an ice truck to support his mother and three brothers while pitching semi-pro baseball for the Albany Hawks.
From ice truck to the big leagues
Powell compiled a 21-0 record in two seasons with the Albany Hawks, catching the attention of Major League scouts. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him in 1985 for a $3,000 bonus.
“I was a stubborn little semi-headed boy in Norman Park,” Powell said. “And they used to call me Dennis the Menace. I would get in trouble.”
Powell made his Major League debut with the Dodgers in 1985, earning his first victory and save in a series against the Atlanta Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. He played parts of eight seasons in the majors and also pitched internationally in Japan, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Tragedy strikes during career
Powell’s baseball success was overshadowed by devastating personal losses. In 1989, a car wreck in Norman Park killed his brother Calvin and nephew Dominic. Less than a year later, brothers Benny and Jimmy were killed in another wreck near Norman Park. A year after that, Powell lost his two-month-old daughter to pulmonary hypertension.
“When life struck a chord with me, and when life hit, and it hit hard, and I lost my brother first with my nephew, it began to affect me,” Powell said. “My ERA that year between two teams went all the way up to a 7.02.”
Powell said he turned to alcohol to cope with the losses, drinking alone in hotel rooms as his performance suffered.
“When they asked me after I buried my brother on Saturday, and my nephew, I got back and flew back for a day game in Anaheim on Sunday. Hey, are you okay? Yeah. I’m good,” Powell said. “I pitched three scoreless innings against the Angels. But still, life was… I was broken on the inside, but I didn’t know it.”
Message of faith and opportunity
Powell, who has been married to his wife Brenda for 36 years and is the father of four children, shared four key words with the young players: poor, pride, team and life.
He defined “poor” as passing over opportunities repeatedly, urging players not to miss the chance they have at Colquitt County.
“You have an amazing school. You have an amazing support group,” Powell said. “This group around you players, timing is everything. You have an amazing opportunity for you.”
For “pride,” Powell emphasized taking personal responsibility in developing excellence, both in academics and athletics.
“The first thing that the coaches come over, when they come over to a dugout, they say, Hey, coach, you got a roster? And they take the roster. And the first line they go down is the GPA. Your grade point average. Not your ERA. Not your batting average,” Powell said.
Building character through adversity
Head coach Ryan Strickland said Powell’s message resonated with the team’s young players.
“We have a lot of young men sitting in this room who have a lot of greatness ahead of them. And they need to know that it can be achieved,” Strickland said. “And I think that was the message tonight from Dennis that, you know, those opportunities are there. They just got to take advantage of it.”
Powell emphasized that coaches and parents are preparing players for life, not just baseball.
“Every coach here is trying to help you get ready for the next level in life. Not just the next game. Not just this game,” Powell said. “Your parents are doing the same thing. They’re trying to help you get ready for adulthood.”
Powell, who is a member of the Colquitt County Hall of Fame and author of the memoir “Standing Over Home,” currently serves as an ambassador for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He has a street named in his honor in Norman Park called Dennis Powell Lane.
“Experience is not the best teacher. Someone else’s experience is the best teacher,” Powell said. “No matter the age, we can all learn from someone who’s already been where we’re going.”
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